Specific igm antibodies as parameters of toxoplasma infection in pregnancy

The aim of this investigation was to determine the time of toxoplasma infection more precisely by using an indirect fluorescent antibody test and indirect hemagglutination test in 51 pregnant women whose Sabin-Feldman test and immunosorbent agglutination assay were positive. Analysis of the results of sera tested with the two additional serological assays showed that the infection was acquired during pregnancy in 19 cases, while the other pregnant women had become infected before conception

The effect of acute and chronic hematocrit changes on cardiovascular hemodynamics in spontaneously hypertensive rats

Heparin given over a long term by a subcutaneous route consistently lowers blood pressure in the hypertensive rat models. The decrease in blood pressure is accompanied by a parallel decrease in hematocrit suggesting a causal relationship between hematocrit and blood pressure. The aim of this study was to define the relationships between acute and chronic hematocrit changes and blood pressure in the normotensive and hypertensive states. Nor- motensive Wistar (NWR) and spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats were used. Hematocrit was decreased acutely by blood-letting, and chronically by treatment with either heparin (H) or phenylhydrazine (P) for 4 weeks. Acute and chronic hematocrit increase was accomplished by packed cells transfusion. Systolic blood pressure was measured weekly; and at the end of the experimental period, plasma volume, cardiac output, and mean arterial pressure were obtained. Acute hematocrit decrease or increase (hematocrit ranging from 25 to 65%) did not affect blood pressure in either strain of rats; whereas chronic hematocrit changes (hematocrit ranging from 35 to 61%) significantly affected blood pressure only in SHR. Thus, chronic hematocrit decrease induced by H or P resulted in a significant fall in blood pressure compared to control (201 ± 3 v 175 ± 4, 167 ± 4 mm Hg, respectively; P lt .05). Conversely, a chronic hematocrit increase resulted in a significant rise in blood pressure (201 ±3 v 219 ± 4 mm Hg; P lt .05). Similar hematocrit changes produced in NWR, as in SHR, did not affect blood pressure. However, a direct relationships between hematocrit and total peripheral resistance, and an inverse relationship between hematocrit and cardiac output was found in both NWR and SHR. No difference in plasma or blood volume was found among the groups. Therefore, the results of the present study indicate that chronic hematocrit changes, low or high, influence blood pressure only in hypertensive rats, and that this effect of hematocrit on blood pressure is mediated by changes in total peripheral resistance

High Levels of IgM Antibodies Specific for Toxoplasma gondii in Pregnancy 12 Years after Primary Toxoplasma Infection: Case Report

A case of high levels of specific IgM antibodies registered by the immunosorbent agglutination assay (ISAgA) in a pregnant woman with a history of toxoplasmosis is reported. The patient had acute lymphoglandular toxoplasmosis diagnosed serologically by increases in the specific antibody titer detected by the Sabin-Feldman test (SFT) and pathohistologically 12 years before pregnancy. In pregnancy, she had stable titers of specific antibodies registered by the SFT, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT), indirect hemagglutination test (IHAT) and direct agglutination test. Specific IgM antibodies were detected by the ISAgA but not by the IgM-IFAT, IgM-ELISA and IgM-IHAT. She had a normal pregnancy and gave birth to a clinically healthy baby who had a negative ISAgA finding at 7 days of age. This case indicates that ISAgA is not necessarily a marker of recent infection and is therefore not reliable for the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in pregnancy

Onset of ocular complications in congenital toxoplasmosis associated with immunoglobulin M antibodies toToxoplasma gondii

Four patients with congenital toxoplasmosis serologically diagnosed by the Sabin-Feldman test (SFT) and the IgM-indirect fluorescent antibody test (IgM-IFAT) in the first year of life presented with eye disease between the age of 21 months and ten years. Repeated serological testing revealed increasing levels of specific antibodies as measured by the SFT. IgM antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii were detected in all four patients by the immunosorbent agglutination assay, in two by the IgM-IFAT and in three by the IgM-indirect haemagglutination test. Findings suggest that specific IgM antibodies reappear at the time of reactivation of congenital toxoplasmosis later in life, or possibly persist for an extraordinary long period (up to ten years)

Toksoplazmoza u trudnoći sa posebnim osvrtom na laboratorijsku dijagnostiku

On the occasion of the thirty-five years of systematic research of toxoplasmosis, a review of the present knowledge of the role of toxoplasmosis in pregnancy is presented. Diagnostic procedures and the interpretation of the results of laboratory examinations are particularly stressed. The main conclusion is that in a population exposed to the infection in the way as was in the cases studied, the prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis can be achieved through a serologic follow-up of all pregnant women starting from the moment when pregnancy is established. The purpose of such screening is to identify those pregnant women who are not immunized (who are then advised to follow certain hygienic and dietetic measures) and those who are primoinfected in pregnancy. As the latter are at risk for transmitting the infection to their fetuses, they receive specific therapy and their fetuses are carefully controlled by ultrasound and other methods for the antenatal diagnosis of intrauterine infection

The Insulin Response to Oral Glucose, Concentrations of Total Cholesterol, Triglycerides and Uric Acid in Women with Idiopathic Hirsutism

The glucose and insulin responses to an oral glucose tolerance test, concentrations of total cholesterol, triglycerides and uric acid were evaluated in women with idiopathic hirsutism (IH). Clinical data and laparoscopy of the ovaries were used in diagnosis. According to body weight the patients were divided into two groups: obese (OB-IH) and non-obese (NO-IH). In the IH and NO-IH groups the glucose response was significantly greater than in the control group (p lt 0.05). The insulin response to oral glucose was significantly higher in the IH and OB-IH groups compared with the control group (p lt 0.01). The concentrations of total cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly increased in the IH and OB-IH groups compared to those of normal women (p lt 0.01). All groups had significantly higher levels of uric acid compared with the control group (p lt 0.01). The results of our study suggest that alterations of carbohydrate, lipid and uric acid metabolism are present in patients with IH and further studies are needed to establish their mechanisms