Thiabendazole vs. albendazole in treatment of toxocariasis: a clinical trial.

Between 1986 and 1988, 34 patients (age range six to 83 years) with visceral or ocular larva migrans were randomly assigned to a five-day treatment with thiabendazole 2 x 25 mg kg-1 day-1 (15 patients) or albendazole 2 x 5 mg kg-1 day-1 (19 patients). On the fifth treatment day, six patients (40%) in the thiabendazole group and 11 patients (58%) in the albendazole group showed excellent or good drug tolerability. Efficacy of treatment was assessed after 30 weeks (range six to 56 weeks). In the thiabendazole group, median eosinophilia remained at 14% and four patients (27%) were clinically cured. In the albendazole group, the median eosinophilia decreased from 10 to 3.5% and six patients (32%) were clinically cured. We recommend albendazole for treatment of visceral and ocular larva migrans with a minimum dose of 10 mg kg-1 daily for five days.

[Which are the most frequently occurring enteropathogenic bacteria in clinical practice?]. / Welches sind die häufigsten enteropathogenen Bakterien in der Praxis?

Diarrhea is an increasingly frequent clinical finding in Swiss medical practice. One reason is the volume of tourism in countries with different climatic and social circumstances. To obtain an overview of the enteropathogenic bacteria spectrum as a cause of diarrhea, we analyzed 11,163 stool specimens from a representative group of patients throughout Switzerland. Enteropathogenic bacteria were found in 15.2% of all specimens; 50% were Campylobacter jejuni/coli, 35% Salmonella spp., 8% Aeromonas hydrophila group, 4% Shigella spp. and 3% Yersinia enterocolitica. This distribution is taken for all age groups and for both sexes. In the infant age there was a maximum evidence of enteropathogenic bacteria of the female sex. In childhood this maximum concerned to the male sex. Patients older than fifty had no positive stool specimens. As expected the most frequent positive stool specimens were in summer.

The cross-reactive immune response between infective larvae and adult worms of Acanthocheilonema (Dipetalonema) viteae is dominated by phosphorylcholine.

The immune response of BALB/c mice against living L3 or adult extract of Acanthocheilonema viteae induces three antibody populations, namely antibodies which cross-react between the two forms of A. viteae, and either (i) do, or (ii) do not express specificity for phosphorylcholine (PC), and (iii) antibodies which do not cross-react between the two stages. In the anti-L3 serum, almost all cross-reactive antibodies to adult antigen are PC specific and of the IgM isotype, apart from a minor non-PC-reactive IgE response. On the other hand, the cross-reactive antibodies in the anti-adult serum are not PC reactive and of the IgG3 isotype. The non-cross-reactive antibodies in the two sera were predominantly IgM and IgG2/IgG1 for the anti-L3 and anti-adult respectively. Immunofluorescence and immunocytochemical studies on third-stage larvae and female worms revealed that antigens expressing PC determinants were mainly found on certain internal structures, whereas the cuticles of adults and the outer cuticle part of L3 are PC negative. Topographical analyses revealed distinct differences in labelling patterns by the two antisera, in the different areas. Thus the cross-reactive and non-cross-reactive antibodies induced by BALB/c mice to the two stages of A. viteae are different in nature. Since the antibody response induced by the L3 form and cross-reactive to the adult form is directed towards an ubiquitous antigen, namely PC, which is not present on cuticula of either the L3 or adult worms, this response may not contribute to protection against the parasite.

Dipetalonema viteae: phosphorylcholine and non-phosphorylcholine antigenic determinants in infective larvae and adult worms.

The humoral immune response of Balb/c mice to live infective larvae or adult worm extract of Dipetalonema viteae is composed of two antibody populations either with or without specificity for phosphorylcholine. Absorption of immune serum on phosphorylcholine-Sepharose and separation of the antibody population demonstrated that anti-larvae serum contains a larger ratio of phosphorylcholine versus non-phosphorylcholine antibodies as compared to anti-adult serum. Immunofluorescence on crossections of female worms revealed that antigen expressing phosphorylcholine determinants were mainly found on certain internal structures, like egg, uterine, and intestinal membranes, but not on the cuticle. Immunoblotting using an adult worm extract demonstrated that protein bands reacted with either one or both populations of antibodies. The patterns were heterogeneous and moreover differed between the anti-larvae serum and the anti-adult serum.