Clinical features and laboratory findings of human parvovirus B19 in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients

Immunocompromised patients may develop severe chronic anaemia when infected by human parvovirus B19 (B19V). However, this is not the case in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with good adherence to highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART). In this study, we investigated the clinical evolution of five HIV-infected patients receiving HAART who had B19V infections confirmed by serum polymerase chain reaction. Four of the patients were infected with genotype 1a strains and the remaining patient was infected with a genotype 3b strain. Anaemia was detected in three of the patients, but all patients recovered without requiring immunoglobulin and/or blood transfusions. In all cases, the attending physicians did not suspect the B19V infections. There was no apparent relationship between the infecting genotype and the clinical course. In the HAART era, B19V infections in HIV-positive patients may be limited, subtle or unapparent.

Purification of human albumin by the combination of the method of Cohn with liquid chromatography

Large volumes of plasma can be fractionated by the method of Cohn at low cost. However, liquid chromatography is superior in terms of the quality of the product obtained. In order to combine the advantages of each method, we developed an integrated method for the production of human albumin and immunoglobulin G (IgG). The cryoprecipitate was first removed from plasma for the production of factor VIII and the supernatant of the cryoprecipitate was fractionated by the method of Cohn. The first precipitate, containing fractions (F)-I + II + III, was used for the production of IgG by the chromatographic method (see Tanaka K et al. (1998) Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 31: 1375-1381). The supernatant of F-I + II + III was submitted to a second precipitation and F-IV was obtained and discarded. Albumin was obtained from the supernatant of the precipitate F-IV by liquid chromatography, ion-exchange on DEAE-Sepharose FF, filtration through Sephacryl S-200 HR and introduction of heat treatment for fatty acid precipitation. Viral inactivation was performed by pasteurization at 60ºC for 10 h. The albumin product obtained by the proposed procedure was more than 99% pure for the 15 lots of albumin produced, with a mean yield of 25.0 ± 0.5 g/l plasma, containing 99.0 to 99.3% monomer, 0.7 to 1.0% dimers, and no polymers. Prekallikrein activator levels were <=5 IU/ml. This product satisfies the requirements of the 1997 Pharmacopée Européenne.

Role of immunoglobulin E and mast cells in murine models of asthma

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) and mast cells are believed to play important roles in allergic inflammation. However, their contributions to the pathogenesis of human asthma have not been clearly established. Significant progress has been made recently in our understanding of airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness through studies of murine models of asthma and genetically engineered mice. Some of the studies have provided significant insights into the role of IgE and mast cells in the allergic airway response. In these models mice are immunized systemically with soluble protein antigens and then receive an antigen challenge through the airways. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from mice with allergic airway inflammation contains significant amounts of IgE. The IgE can capture the antigen presented to the airways and the immune complexes so formed can augment allergic airway response in a high-affinity IgE receptor (FcepsilonRI)-dependent manner. Previously, there were conflicting reports regarding the role of mast cells in murine models of asthma, based on studies of mast cell-deficient mice. More recent studies have suggested that the extent to which mast cells contribute to murine models of asthma depends on the experimental conditions employed to generate the airway response. This conclusion was further supported by studies using FcepsilonRI-deficient mice. Therefore, IgE-dependent activation of mast cells plays an important role in the development of allergic airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness in mice under specific conditions. The murine models used should be of value for testing inhibitors of IgE or mast cells for the development of therapeutic agents for human asthma.

Uprootedness and the protection of migrants in the International Law of Human Rights

The article attempt to demonstrate the evolution of international law in connected to the subject of the forced immigrants'. The author supported by several texts, cases and resolutions of the regional level, through interamerican court and European court, and the global level, through the international court. It's shown the evolution that occurred in international law in millennium turn over, which recognize the immigrants' rights. However, it's stressed the necessity of the development of those laws connected to the theme e the recognition, from the States; the importance of law's that effort to ensure the respect to human rights relative to the immigrants and their families.

Human Rights promotion in Serbia: a difficult task for the European Union

This article explores the role of the European Union in the human rights protection, implementation and promotion in Serbia. It is clear that the EU demands on democratisation in the region of Western Balkans are crucial to achieve the respect for human rights. The human rights standards as part of the conditionality criteria of the EU is a clear message towards the countries aspiring membership. However, Serbia progress in the field has been difficult due to several internal constraints. This paper aims to uncover the democratisation process of Serbia on its path towards the EU, and its progress (or not) regarding human rights protection and implementation.

Economic sanctions and human rights: an analysis of competing enforcement strategies in Latin America

This article addresses the consequences of economic sanctions for the protection of human rights in Latin America. The literature on sanctions and compliance informs three hypotheses, which investigate the relationship between sanctions and the level of rights protection in two groups of countries: those that were targeted by sanctions and those that were not. Using data from the Political Terror Scale (PTS) and from Freedom House, I find empirical evidence that sanctions do improve the level of protection in countries that were not targeted. This finding can be explained by the deterrent effect attributed to sanctions by the compliance literature, broadly interpreted. The presence of economic sanctions in a given year increases the probability of observing better human rights practices by almost 50%. These results hold for the 12 Latin American countries that were not subject to economic sanctions for the period 1976-2004.

Lyme Disease: antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi in farm workers in Argentina

Lyme Disease is a tick-borne (specially by Ixodes ticks) immune-mediated inflammatory disorder caused by a newly recognize spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. Indirect fluorescent antibody (IF) staining methods and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay are frequently relied upon to confirm Lyme borreliosis infections. Although serologic testing for antibodies has limitations, it is still the only practical means of confirming B. burgdorferi infections. Because we have no previous report of Lyme disease in human inhabitants in Argentina, a study was designed as a seroepidemiologic investigation of the immune response to B. burgdorferi in farm workers of Argentina with arthritis symptoms. Three out of 28 sera were positive (#1,5 and 9). Serum # 1 was positive for Immunoglobulin G at dilution 1:320, serum # 5 and # 9 both to dilution 1:160; while for Immunoglobulin M all (#1, 5 and 9) were positive at low dilution (1:40) using IF. The results showed that antibodies against B. burgdorferi are present in an Argentinian population. Thus caution should be exercised in the clinical interpretation of arthritis until the presence of B. burgdorferi be confirmed by culture in specific media.

Human cryptosporidiosis: detection of specific antibodies in the serum by an indirect immunofluorescence

Cryptosporidium sp., a coccidian parasite usually found in the faeces of cattle, has been recently implicated as an agent of human intestinal disease, mainly in immunocompromised patients. In the study realized, by an indirect immunofluorescence technique, specific immunoglobulins (IgG and IgM) have been demonstrated in human serum against Cryptosporidium oocysts. Purified oocysts were used as antigens in the indirect immunofluorecence assay. After analyzing this test in sera from selected groups of patients, the frequency of both specific IgG and IgM of immunocompetent children who were excreting oocysts in their faeces was 62% and in children with negative excretion of oocysts was 20% and 40%, respectively. In adults infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and who were excreting Cryptosporidium in their stools, the frequency was 57% for IgG but only 2% for IgM. Twenty three percent of immunocompromised adults with not determined excretion of oocysts in their stools had anti-Cryptosporidium IgG in their sera. Children infected with human immunodeficiency virus had no IgM and only 14% had IgG detectable in their sera. The indirect immunoflorescence assay, when used with other parasitological techniques appears to be useful for retrospective population studies and for diagnosis of acute infection. The humoral immune response of HIV positive patients to this protozoan agent needs clarification.

Human case of gastric infection by a fourth larval stage of Pseudoterranova decipiens (Nematoda, Anisakidae)

Only three cases of human infection by anisakid nematodes have been reported in Chile since 1976. In the present case, an anisakid worm, identified as a fourth-stage Pseudoterranova decipiens larva, was removed with a gastroendoscopic biopsy clipper from the stomach of a 45 year-old man from southern Chile. The patient, who presented acute epigastric pain and a continuous sensation of having an empty stomach, reported having eaten smoked fish. The worm was fixed in 70% ethanol and cleaned in lactophenol for morphological study. The morphometric characteristics of the worm are described and drawn. Anisakid larvae in fish flesh can be killed by freezing or cooking.

New cases of human diphyllobothriosis in Patagonia, Argentine

The purpose of the paper is to describe 4 new cases of human diphyllobothriosis in Patagonia, Argentine. Adult parasites recovered were submitted to morphological and histological analyses for taxonomic identification. The etiological agent found was always Diphyllobothrium latum and all the cases were autochthonous. These data combined with previous information make the number of autochthonous human cases of diphyllobothriosis registered in Argentina increase to 18.

Aedes albopictus may not be vector of dengue virus in human epidemics in Brazil

Over 60,500 dengue cases were reported in the state of Espírito Santo (ES), Brazil, between 1995 and 1998. The study's purpose was to identify whether Aedes albopictus was transmitting the dengue virus during an epidemic in the locality of Vila Bethânia (Viana County),Vitória, ES. From April 3 to 9, 1998, blood and serum samples were collected daily for virus isolation and serological testing. Four autochthonous cases were confirmed through DEN 1 virus isolation and two autochthonous cases through MAC ELISA testing. Of 37 Ae. aegypti and 200 Ae. albopictus adult mosquitoes collected and inoculated, DEN1 virus was isolated only from a pool of two Ae. aegypti female mosquitoes. The study results suggest that Ae. albopictus still cannot be considered an inter-human vector in dengue epidemics in Brazil.

Mental health research in Brazil: policies, infrastructure, financing and human resources

The objective of this descriptive study was to map mental health research in Brazil, providing an overview of infrastructure, financing and policies mental health research. As part of the Atlas-Research Project, a WHO initiative to map mental health research in selected low and middle-income countries, this study was carried out between 1998 and 2002. Data collection strategies included evaluation of governmental documents and sites and questionnaires sent to key professionals for providing information about the Brazilian mental health research infrastructure. In the year 2002, the total budget for Health Research was US$101 million, of which US$3.4 million (3.4) was available for Mental Health Research. The main funding sources for mental health research were found to be the São Paulo State Funding Agency (Fapesp, 53.2%) and the Ministry of Education (CAPES, 30.2%). The rate of doctors is 1.7 per 1,000 inhabitants, and the rate of psychiatrists is 2.7 per 100,000 inhabitants estimated 2000 census. In 2002, there were 53 postgraduate courses directed to mental health training in Brazil (43 in psychology, six in psychiatry, three in psychobiology and one in psychiatric nursing), with 1,775 students being trained in Brazil and 67 overseas. There were nine programs including psychiatry, neuropsychiatry, psychobiology and mental health, seven of them implemented in Southern states. During the five-year period, 186 students got a doctoral degree (37 per year) and 637 articles were published in Institute for Scientic Information (ISI)-indexed journals. The investment channeled towards postgraduate and human resource education programs, by means of grants and other forms of research support, has secured the country a modest but continuous insertion in the international knowledge production in the mental health area.