We assessed the informativeness of several serologic biomarkers of immune function using serum specimens collected in the Miyazaki Cohort Study from subjects who were seronegative for anti-human T-cell lymphotrophic virus I and anti-hepatitis C virus. To broadly characterize type 1 immune status, we measured EBV antibody titers, because titer profiles associated with cellular immune suppression...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) is the leading cause of death in the setting of AIDS. MTb enhances the pathogenicity and accelerates the course of HIV disease and, furthermore, infection with HIV-1 increases the risk of reactivation or reinfection with MTb. In this study, we show that host-specific recall responses to one pathogen, MTb, has a direct effect upon the regulation of a second patho...

BACKGROUND Options for intervention against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection are limited by the diagnostic tools available. The Purified Protein Derivative (PPD) skin test is thought to be non-specific, especially in tropical settings. We compared the PPD skin test with an ELISPOT test in The Gambia. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Household contacts over six months of age of sputum smear ...

Quinidine derivative (QD)(2)PYR was found to catalyze the asymmetric direct amination of unprotected prochiral 3-oxindole with DIAD to construct quaternary stereocenters at the C3 position with excellent enantioselectivity.

Interferon gamma release assays (IGRAs) could accurately diagnose Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tuberculosis) infection. However, these assays do not discriminate between latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and active tuberculosis disease (ATB). Here, a total of 177 subjects, including 65 patients with ATB, 43 subjects with LTBI, and 69 TB-uninfected controls (CON group) were enrolled. The con...

There is a lack of information on genetic parameters for tuberculosis (TB) susceptibility in dairy cattle. Mycobacterium bovis is the primary agent of tuberculosis in cattle.The objective of this study was to quantify the genetic variation present among Irish Holstein Friesian dairy cattle in their susceptibility to M. bovis infection. A total of 15,182 cow and 8,104 heifer single intradermal c...

Tests based on tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) cannot distinguish between tuberculosis infection, Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccination, or exposure to environmental mycobacteria. The present study investigated the diagnostic potential of two Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens (ESAT-6 and CFP10) in experimental animals as well as during natural infection in humans and cattl...

Tuberculin skin test (TST), an age old method is based on measuring delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) response to purified protein derivative (PPD). However, inspite of simplicity, ease and cost effectiveness, the usefulness of PPD test is limited due to its inability to distinguish among a protective immune response, latent infection and active tuberculosis disease. On the other hand, a skin...