An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed for the detection of rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to purified cell wall teichoic acids from the Staphylococcus aureus Lafferty strain and three strains of coagulase-negative staphylococci. Significant immunological cross-reactivity occurred only between the teichoic acid of S. aureus and one coagulase-negative preparation. T...

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease with high seroprevalence worldwide. Several immunological methods have been described for diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. Objective: To determine the parasitemia period in patients infected with toxoplasma using PCR and comparing serological data with molecular results. Methods: 154 serum samples from patients with toxoplasmosis were examined. Presenc...

IMPORTANCE High titers of autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) are well documented in association with stiff person syndrome (SPS). Glutamic acid decarboxylase is the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and impaired function of GABAergic neurons has been implicated in the pathogenesis of SPS. Autoantibodies to GAD might be the causative agent or a...

The indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) method for diagnosis of toxoplasmosis is widely used and is considered to be as specific as the Sabin-Feldman dye test. After observing a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who had a positive toxoplasma IFA test but a negative dye test, we studied sera with high titers of antinuclear antibodies from 16 SLE patients and from 2 with rheumatoid ...

BACKGROUND To investigate the IgG antibody titer against Helicobacter pylori CagA as a risk factor for future noncardia gastric cancer. METHODS A nested case-control study was done in the longitudinal cohort of atomic bomb survivors using stored sera before diagnosis (mean, 2.3 years). Enrolled were 299 cancer cases and 3 controls per case selected from cohort members matched on age, gender, ...

Transformation of Japanese encephalitis antibody from IgM to IgG in the sera of the experimental infected chicks with Japanese encephalitis virus and transmission of IgM or IgG from hen to chicks were examined by the gel filtration on Sephadex G-200 column. The following results were obtained. 1. Titer of hemoagglutination inhibiting antibody rose on seven days after inoculation of mouse brain ...

Recipients of licensed anthrax vaccine (AVA; Biothrax) could serve as a source of hyperimmune plasma and immunoglobulin for therapy and prophylaxis. We measured serum antibodies during serial weekly to biweekly plasmapheresis in 38 individuals previously vaccinated with 4 to 27 doses of AVA. Immunoglobulin G (IgG) to protective antigen (PA) and toxin neutralization assay (TNA) antibody levels w...

BACKGROUND It seems that the incidence of pertussis-like illnesses is considerably increasing despite the wide coverage of immunization with the whole cell pertussis vaccine. We aimed to investigate the occurrence of pertussis in vaccinated children by measuring anti-pertussis antibodies. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, blood samples were taken from vaccinated children aged 2, 4, 6, 12...

Five asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive male homosexuals were immunized with the recall antigens tetanus toxoid (TT) and the three types of poliovirus present in diphtheria, tetanus, and polio vaccine. Four weeks after immunization, the in vivo response to booster immunization, the in vitro pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-induced IgG secretion, and the in vitro T cell-dependent...

Production of nerve growth factor (NGF) was assessed in cultures of human T and B lymphocytes and macrophages. NGF was constitutively produced by B cells only, which also expressed surface p140trk-A and p75NGFR molecules and hence efficiently bound and internalized the cytokine. Neutralization of endogenous NGF caused disappearance of Bcl-2 protein and apoptotic death of resting lymphocytes bea...