The mouth-stomach crossing of Helicobacter pylori.

In order to confirm the mouth-stomach crossing of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) we performed a study to isolate the bacterium both from dental plaque and gastric mucosa of 83 subjects. Out of the 83 subjects, 62 were affected by gastroduodenal pathologies usually related to H. pylori whereas, the other 21 subjects were healthy. Each patient underwent one plaque sampling and three gastric samplings. The samples were cultured and an analytical technique, isoelectrofocusing (IEF), was used to show if dental and gastric strains isolated from the same subject had the same proteic profile. The H. pylori was isolated from the dental plaque of five subjects. Out of these, four subjects were suffering from gastric pathologies and the H. pylori was besides isolated from their gastric mucosa. The dental and gastric strains isolated from the same patient showed the same proteic profile. The hypothesis of H. pylori crossing from mouth to stomach seems to be confirmed.

Allergic rhinitis, olfactory disorders and secretory IgA.

The authors point out the possible relationship between the biochemical and immunological components of nasal mucus in subjects affected by allergic rhinitis and/or olfactory disorders. Fifty seven subjects (33 F, 24 M) aged between 19 and 73 years, (median age 65 SD 14.60) were studied. Twenty seven of them were normosmic affected by allergic rhinitis and taken as control group, (14 were positive to allergometric tests and/or RAST, while the other 13 were negative), 30 were dysosmic, and subdivided into parosmic (n = 6), anosmic (n = 15) and hyposmic (n = 9) (only one was negative both to allergometric tests and to RAST). In all patients we assessed: nasal mucus (it was analysed for: mucus quantity, pH, protein concentration, K+ concentration and the SIgA antibodies, tested both by radian immunodiffusion and by ELISA), allergometric tests, PRIST, RAST, anterior rhinomanometry, evoked olfactory potential. As regard to allergometric tests, we have no observed statistically significant differences between the control and the dysosmic group, although all the dysosmic patients (except one) were positive both to allergometric tests and to RAST. Total (PRIST) and specific (RAST) IgE values (except for the anosmic subjects who had IgE values moderately higher) were similar to the results obtained by allergometric tests. As regards to nasal secretion quantity, it was reduced (p: n.s.), like the pH (p: n.s.), in the parosmic subjects. On the other hand, proteins concentration of nasal secretion was lowered in hyposmic (p: n.s.) and anosmic (p = 0.05) subjects, while there were no differences between parosmic subjects and control group. The values of SIgA in controls and hyposmic subjects were not too different and similar to those observed by other authors; however they were slightly increased in controls affected by allergic rhinitis with positivity both to RAST and/or allergometric tests (p: n.s.), while they were reduced in the parosmic and significantly in the anosmic patients (p < 0.01). On the basis of that data, the authors conclude that, (though related to a limited case reports) being the secretory IgA values inversely proportional to the gravity of olfactory pathology, a their protective role (if the anatomic-functional substratum is efficient), in the pathologies examined, can be easily hypothesized. Besides, that data highlight that their concentration is slightly decreased in those patients affected by allergic rhinitis, without olfactory disorders (p: n.s.).

Anti 70 kDa heat shock protein antibodies in sera of patients affected by autoimmune and non-autoimmune thyroid diseases.

Twenty eight patients (25F, 3M) affected by autoimmune and non-autoimmune thyroid diseases were studied. HSP 70 antibodies were present in 21.4% of patients. Five of them were affected by Graves' disease and one by De Quervain's thyroiditis. The HSP 70 antibodies mean values of patients were significantly higher than the normals (p < 0.05). This datum was confirmed by Western blotting. The presence of HSP 70 antibodies in the sera of those patients may support the link between the protein and the thyroid autoimmune processes.

High prevalence of anti-hepatitis delta virus antibody in chronic liver disease in Somalia.

We have assessed the prevalence of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection in people with histologically proven chronic liver disease living in Somalia. Among 104 patients studied (14 with chronic persistent hepatitis, 74 with chronic active hepatitis, and 16 with active cirrhosis), 52 were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen; of these, 26 (50%) carried anti-delta antibodies. HDV infection was detected more frequently in sera from hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative patients (60.9%) than in HBeAg positive patients (9.1%). Using the dot-blot hybridization technique, serum hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid was revealed in 73.1% of patients without HDV infection, while it was detected in only 7.7% of anti-delta positive patients. It is concluded that HDV is strongly associated with chronic liver disease in Somalia.

Application of time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TR-FIA) for the diagnosis of invasive amoebiasis.

A development of solid-phase immunoassay, time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TR-FIA), was used for anti-amoebic antibodies. The test used a chelate of the lanthanide europium as label. The long fluorescent life-time and large Stoke's shift of europium chelates permit sensitive detection in a time-resolved fluorimeter. The TR-FIA was compared with counterimmunoelectrophoresis (CIEP), indirect haemagglutination (IHA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using 61 sera from patients with invasive amoebiasis, 344 sera submitted routinely for amoebic serology without clinical data, 125 sera from patients with diseases other than amoebiasis, and 86 sera from "healthy" individuals. Overall agreement between TR-FIA and ELISA was 97.1%, between TR-FIA and IHA 93.2%, and between TR-FIA and CIEP 94.0%. Sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values were calculated to compare the 4 diagnostic methods in invasive amoebiasis. TR-FIA showed a higher validity than other methods. The application of such highly detectable labels in immunometric assays promises to open up entirely new areas of research.

Primary hepatitis A virus infection in developing countries: decline of maternal antibodies and time of infection.

In developing countries, HAV seems to be responsible for a widespread, inapparent and protective infection during early childhood. This report emphasizes early infection and its relationship to protection by passive immunity from maternal antibody in a highly endemic area such as Somalia. Our result show that HAV infection in Somalia primarily occurs during the first 4 years of life (4 months to 4 years). Cases are infrequent in the first 3 months due to passive immunity secondary to maternal antibody (cord-blood and colostrum anti-HAV). As the level of protection declines, the rate of acute infection rises as determined by the presence of IgM-specific anti-HAV.

Hepatitis B virus circulation in three different villages of Somalia.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) circulation was surveyed in three Somalian villages (Buur-Fuul, Mooda-Moode and Bajuni Islands) in different districts and 52 children living in a closed community, aged under one year, were studied. Of the 331 village subjects aged one to 83 years, 12.08% were HBs positive, 29.9% anti-HBs positive, 43.8% anti-HBc positive and 21.4 anti-HBe positive. Among the HBs-positive subjects, 34.7% had HBeAg and 21.7% had anti-HBcAg-IgM. No statistically significant differences were found for HBs, anti-HBs, anti-HBc and anti-HBe among the three villages. HBeAg prevalence was higher in Buur-Fuul than in Mooda-Moode and in Bajuni Islands. HBsAg prevalence was about the same for each age group studied, whereas the prevalence of anti-HBc showed a continuous rise and reached its maximum level of 43.8% in those aged 39 years and older. The proportion of HBs-positive subjects who also carried HBeAg was high in the youngest children but fell with age. HBs-positive children aged under one year had a high anti-HBc-IgM prevalence. Our finding suggests that perinatal infection may play an important role among the Somalian population in determining the reservoir of virus carriers.