The anticancer alkylating agents cyclophosphamide (CPA) and ifosfamide (IFA) are prodrugs that undergo extensive P450-catalyzed metabolism to yield both active (4-hydroxylated) and therapeutically inactive but neurotoxic (N-dechloroethylated) metabolites. Whereas the human liver microsomal P450 catalysts of CPA and IFA 4-hydroxylation are well characterized, the P450 enzyme catalysts of the alt...

This was a prospective evaluation of four immunodiagnostic assays for human leptospirosis, including the indirect immunofluorescence test (IFA), the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), the LEPTO dipstick, and the latex agglutination (LA) test. Four hundred ninety-two serum samples were collected from 348 patients who presented with acute fever without localizing signs. The sensitivities of th...

A study was conducted to determine the ability of the inclusion immunofluorescence assay (inclusion IFA) to act as a screening test to detect samples with antibodies to Chlamydia pneumoniae; microimmunofluorescence (MIF) was used as the "gold standard." In addition, the inclusion IFA was compared using HEp-2 cells infected with either C. pneumoniae CM-1 or Chlamydia trachomatis serovar E. A tot...

BACKGROUND World Health Organization recommends a standard daily oral dose of iron and folic acid (IFA) supplements throughout pregnancy to begin as early as possible. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of use of antenatal IFA supplements, and the socio-demographic factors associated with the non-use of antenatal IFA supplements from 14 selected districts in Pakistan. ...

Bartonella henselae is a recently recognized pathogenic bacterium associated with cat-scratch disease, bacillary angiomatosis and bacillary peliosis. A recombinant clone expressing an immunoreactive antigen of B. henselae was isolated by screening a genomic DNA cosmid library by Western blotting with sera pooled from patients positive for B. henselae IgG antibodies by indirect immunofluorescenc...

OBJECTIVE Preconception micronutrient interventions may be a promising approach to reduce anemia and iron deficiency during pregnancy, but currently we have limited data to inform policies. We evaluated whether providing additional pre-pregnancy weekly iron-folic acid (IFA) or multiple micronutrient (MM) supplements compared to only folic acid (FA) improves iron status and anemia during pregnan...

Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) have traditionally been evaluated using indirect fluorescence assays (IFA) with HEp-2 cells. Quantitative immunoassays (EIA) have replaced the use of HEp-2 cells in some laboratories. Here, we evaluated ANA in 400 consecutive and unselected routinely referred patients using IFA and automated EIA techniques. The IFA results generated by two independent laboratories ...

B. anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax. Pathogenesis is primarily mediated through the exotoxins lethal factor and edema factor, which bind protective antigen (PA) to gain entry into the host cell. The current anthrax vaccine (AVA, Biothrax) consists of aluminum-adsorbed cell-free filtrates of unencapsulated B. anthracis, wherein PA is thought to be the principle target of neutralizatio...

OBJECTIVES To assess impact of daily and intermittent iron-folate (IFA) supplementation on cognition of underprivileged primary schoolgirls in Vadodara. DESIGN Experimental-control longitudinal study. SETTING Municipal primary schools. PARTICIPANTS Schoolgirls (n=161) in the age group of 9 - 13 years. INTERVENTION Participants at three randomly selected schools were given IFA tablets (1...

Conventional assays for determination of growth hormone (GH) in serum measure immunoreactive molecules of a blood sample. The immunofunctional assay (IFA), on the other hand, is able to determine biologically active molecules. In our study, we evaluated GH determination in children with IFA to compare these data with clinical reliable data of conventional assay systems, since there is only insu...