Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in the clinical forms of leprosy

Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are autoantibodies against enzymes present in primary granules of neutrophils and lysosomes of monocytes detected in systemic vasculitis and in other diseases, including infections, ANCA are markers of active Wegener granulomatosis, which presents some anatomo-pathologic and immune response features similar to those of leprosy. Thus, we raised the hypothesis that ANCA may be present in leprosy as markers specifically linked to the presence of vasculitis. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of ANCA in leprosy and its correlation with the clinical forms of the disease. Sera from 60 normal individuals and from 59 patients with different clinical forms of leprosy were studied. The patients were also allocated into reactional and nonreactional groups. By indirect immunofluorescence, ANCA were positive, an atypical pattern A-ANCA, in 28.8% of the patient sera. A-ANCA predominated, although not significantly (p >0,05), in the reactional groups (37.9% vs 20.0%), and in those at the lepromatous pole (41.6% vs 20.0%). There was no correlation between ANCA positivity and either disease duration, disease activity, or therapeutic regimen (p >0.05), An interesting finding was the correlation between ANCA and gender: 94.1% of ANCA-positive patients were males (p <0.01), a feature that so far has not been reported in ANCA-related diseases and for which there is no explanation at the moment. By ELISA, the sera of the lepromatous leprosy patients did not show activity against either PR3, MPO, HLE, the most common ANCA antigens. Because A-ANCA are nonspecific, this finding requires further investigation for the determination of the responsible antigen(s), in conclusion, A-ANCA are present in 28.8% of leprosy patients but are not related to vasculitis in the erythema nodosum leprosum reaction and are not a marker of a specific clinical form.

Comparison of parasitological, immunological and molecular methods for the diagnosis of leishmaniasis in dogs with different clinical signs

Aiming to improve the diagnosis of canine leishmaniasis (CanL) in an endemic area of the Northwest region of São Paulo State, Brazil, the efficacy of parasitological, immunological and molecular diagnostic methods were studied. Dogs with and without clinical sips of the disease and positive for Leishmania, by direct parasite identification on lymph node smears and/or specific antibody detection by ELISA, were selected for the study. According to the clinical signs, 89 dogs attending the Veterinary Hospital of UNESP in Aracatuba (SP, Brazil) were divided into three groups: symptomatic (36%), oligosymptomatic (22%) and asymptomatic (22%). Twenty-six dogs from an area non-endemic for CanL were used as negative controls (20%). Fine-needle aspiration biopsies (FNA) of popliteal lymph nodes were collected and Diff-Quick (R)-stained for optical microscopy. Direct immumofluorescence, immunocytochemistry and parasite DNA amplification by PCR were also performed. After euthanasia, fragments of popliteal lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow and liver were collected and processed for HE and immunohistochemistry. Parasite detection by both HE and immunohistochemistry was specifically more effective in lymph nodes, when compared with the other organs. Immunolabeling provided higher sensitivity for parasite detection in the tissues. In the symptomatic group, assay sensitivity was 75.61% for direct parasite search on Diff-Quick (R)-stained FNAs, 92.68% for direct immunofluorescence, 92.68% for immunocytochemistry and 100% for PCR; the corresponding values in the other clinical groups were: 32, 60, 76 and 96% (oligosymptomatic), and 39.13, 73.91, 100 and 95.65% (asymptomatic). Results of the control animals from the CanL non-endemic area were all negative, indicating that the methods used were 100% specific. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Serology of paracoccidioidomycosis. II. Correlation between class-specific antibodies and clinical forms of the disease

Untreated and previously treated patients with paracoccidioidomycosis were studied for: (i) serum levels of total IgG, IgM and IgA immunoglobulins, by radial immunodiffusion and Paracoccidioides brasiliensis (Pb) antibodies, by indirect immunofluorescence; (ii) correlation between their levels with the clinical forms of the disease; (iii) correlation between the serum titres obtained by tube precipitin with those of anti-Pb IgG, IgM and IgA. In the untreated group, serum IgG levels were significantly increased in patients with the more systemic forms of the disease, especially the acute progressive form. Serum IgA levels were significantly increased in all patients with no statistical difference between clinical forms. Serum IgM levels were normal in all patients. Anti-Pb IgG, IgA and IgM were detected in 97·5%, 32·5% and 45·0% of all cases, respectively. There was a sharp tendency towards higher levels of anti-Pb IgG among those with the acute progressive form (83·4%) in relation to the chronic, more localized forms, mixed form (68·0%) and isolated organic form (55·5%). In the untreated and previously treated group sera, there was positive correlation between the level of anti-Pb IgG and positivity for the tube precipitin test, suggesting that the precipitin-type antibodies are of the IgG class. Broadly, the present data demonstrate a polyclonal activation of the humoral immune system in paracoccidioidomycosis, with a positive relationship between serological results and severity of the disease. © 1984.

Correlation between cell-mediated immunity and clinical forms of paracoccidioidomycosis

Cellular immune response to specific and non-specific stimulants was investigated, both in vivo and in vitro, in 29 healthy controls and in 53 previously untreated patients with the chronic isolated organic form (CIOF), the chronic mixed form (CMF) and the acute progressive form (APF) of paracoccidioidomycosis. The study included skin tests to Paracoccidioides brasiliensis antigen (PbAg) and phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), DNCB sensitization, determination of T lymphocytes and complement rosette-forming cells, lymphocyte transformation and leucocyte migration inhibition tests using PbAg and PHA. Patients displayed staggered cutaneous response to PHA and to PbAg, with marked decrease in intensity in the APF group. DNCB sensitization test and proliferative response of lymphocytes to PHA and PbAg were severely depressed in most of the patients. Leucocyte migration inhibition indices to PbAg were highly positive, while response to PHA was slightly decreased regardless of the clinical form. The number of T lymphocytes was reduced in most of patients and in them the number of complement-rosette forming cells was normal. The distribution of patients according to a suppression index, based in the results of the tests employed, revealed a tendency towards an increased degree of cellular immunosuppression from the least severe (CIOF) to the most severe (APF) clinical form of the disease. On the whole, the present study demonstrated a gamut of immunological reactivity in paracoccidioidomycosis. © 1985.

Identificação e análise de polimorfismos no gene que codifica a Lectina ligante de Manose (MBL) na espécie Canis lúpus familiaris

Pós-graduação em Biologia Geral e Aplicada - IBB

Aplicação de conjugado de microesferas de poliestireno para preparo de RNA no diagnóstico da cinomose canina por RT-qPCR

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Molecular Identification of Nocardia Isolates from Clinical Samples and an Overview of Human Nocardiosis in Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Paracoccidioidomycosis

Paracoccidioidomycosis is an endemic systemic mycosis that predominates in southern Mexico, parts of Central America, and South America. It is caused by a dimorphic fungus and is generally acquired through the lungs, from where it disseminates. Paracoccidioidomycosis has different clinical manifestations that require differentiation with tuberculosis, Hodgkin disease, several systemic and subcutaneous mycoses, and squamous cell carcinoma. Diagnosis is made by finding the organism in a biopsy specimen and isolating it in fungal culture. Treatment includes sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim for mild forms and itraconazole for moderate cases. Fluconazole and voriconazole can be used for meningeal involvement, and amphotericin B is indicated for severe disease. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Correlation between Clinical/Radiographic Features and Inflammatory Cytokine Networks Produced by Macrophages Stimulated with Endodontic Content

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Proteomic characterization of the multiple forms of the PLAs from the venom of the social wasp Polybia paulista

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Response activity of alveolar macrophages in pulmonary dysfunction caused by Leptospira infection

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

PATHOGENICITY AND IMMUNOGENICITY OF PARACOCCIDIOIDES-BRASILIENSIS ISOLATES IN THE HUMAN-DISEASE AND IN AN EXPERIMENTAL MURINE MODEL

The pathogenicity and immunogenicity of six recently isolated Paracoccidioides brasiliensis samples derived from patients presenting distinct and well defined clinical forms of paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) were compared as to their virulence, tropism to different organs and ability to induce specific cellular and humoral immune response in susceptible (B10.A) inbred mice. Isolates Pb44 and Pb47 were obtained from acute cases, Pb50 from a chronic severe form, Pb45 from a chronic moderate case and both Pb56 and Pb57 from chronic mild forms of PCM. Pathogenicity and tropism of each fungal sample were evaluated by LD50% estimation, examination of gross lesions on various organs at 2, 4, 12 and 16 weeks post-infection, and by colony-forming unit (CFU) counts in the lungs at week 16 post-infection of mice. Fungal tropism in human PCM and in B10.A mice was always dissociated. A well defined relationship between virulence of the fungal sample and the clinical findings of the correspondent patient was not evident, although a tendency to higher LD50% and less intense paracoccidioidic lesions was observed in mice infected with Pb56 and Pb57. The specific DTH response patterns varied according to the infectant sample, but positive DTH reactions at the beginning of the infection and a tendency to anergy or low DTH responses at week 12 and/or week 16 post-infection were always observed. A correspondence between the DTH response in humans and in mice was noticeable only when the isolates from the most benign cases (Pb56 and Pb57) were considered. The specific antibody patterns in mice and in the correspondent patients were also not analogous. Collectively, these results indicate that an association between the fungal pathogenicity and immunogenicity in the human disease and in susceptible mice was discernible only when isolates obtained from very mild cases (Pb56 and Pb57) were considered.