ABSTRACT
A preliminary evaluation of the diagnostic potential of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay using diurnally collected sputum from bancroftian filariasis patients is described. A new set of PCR primers amplifying a 254-bp-long sequence termed AccI, derived from a long dispersed repeated sequence and SspI primers previously employed for PCR-based diagnosis were employed in this study with similar results. Of the 34 sputum samples from patients, 32 (94%) were PCR positive. Of the 18 patients with low to high microfilaremia (21-1560 microfilariae/ml), 16 (88.8%) were PCR positive. Of the remaining 16 patients, 6 with very low microfilaremia (2-6 microfilariae/ml) and 10 without microfilaremia, all (100%) were PCR positive. Two PCR-positive cases among the 13 endemic normal individuals tested (15.4%) may represent cases of occult filariasis. PCR amplification was also demonstrated with one PCR-positive sputum aliquot when mixed with 14 sputum aliquots from uninfected (PCR-negative) individuals. The potential diagnostic merits of the sputum-PCR assay are discussed.
Subject(s)
DNA, Helminth/analysis , Filariasis/diagnosis , Sputum/parasitology , Wuchereria bancrofti/genetics , Animals , Blotting, Southern , DNA Primers/chemistry , DNA, Helminth/isolation & purification , Electrophoresis, Agar Gel , Filariasis/parasitology , Humans , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Sensitivity and Specificity , Wuchereria bancrofti/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
Amongst newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients, 44% were co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Pulmonary tuberculosis patients with HIV-1 presented more frequently with lymphadenopathy and diarrhoea than those without HIV-1. Peripheral blood CD4+ counts were significantly lower in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis with HIV-1 than those with pulmonary tuberculosis alone, P = 0.0292. CD4+ lymphocyte counts, lymphadenopathy and BCG scar could serve as indicators of HIV-1 infection in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients.
PIP: 87 newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya, were recruited into the study. Only patients with acid fast bacilli on stained smears of expectorated sputum were considered to have PTB. Cases were presumed PTB when a negative sputum smear was obtained in a patient with clinical and radiographic features consistent with PTB. Heparinized peripheral venous blood from each patient was tested for antibodies to HIV-1 with the Dupont HTLV 111 and the Wellcozyme Diagnostics ELISA. Only samples seropositive with both ELISAs were considered HIV-1 seropositive. T-lymphocyte subpopulation was separated from mononuclear cells by centrifugation on a Ficoll-Hypaque gradient. There were approximately equal numbers of males and females (25 males and 24 females) in the HIV-1 negative group but as many as 26 males compared to 12 females in the HIV-1 positive group. The sex ratio in the HIV-1 negative was M/F; 1:0.96 and M/F; 1:0.5 in the HIV-1 positive group. The mean age of patients with HIV-1 (33.4 +or- 7.22) was significantly higher than those without HIV-1 (28.70 +or- 11.20; p0.001). The overall prevalence of HIV-1 was 44%; higher in men (30%) than in women (14%). The hemoglobin (12.0 +or- 2.6 gm HIV-1 negative; 12.0 +or- 1.4.0 gm HIV-1 positive) and total lymphocyte counts (2451.6 +or- 1036.7/cubic mm HIV-1 negative; 2020.9 +or- 1258.6/cubic mm HIV-1 positive) were not significantly different between the 2 groups. However, the white blood cell count was significantly higher in HIV-1 seronegative group (7273.5 +or- 4700/cubic mm) than in the HIV-1 seropositive group (5094.8 +or- 3494/cubic mm); p0.05). Patients with HIV-1 presented more often with lymphadenopathy, diarrhea and weight loss, whereas cough and fever were as common in HIV-1 positive as HIV-1 negative patients. Even though CD3, CD4, and CD8 counts were significantly lower in HIV-1 positive patients, the ratio of CD4/CD8 was not significantly different between the 2 groups.
