MIKROBIYOLOJI BULTENI

The collection of reliable data is the first step to assess the status of HIV/AIDS in a community. HIV recording systems are necessary for organizing and analyzing the patients' data. The aim of the study was to develop a database to be used to track HIV positive/AIDS patients. The database includes general demographic fields as well as specific fields such as health history, laboratory and other clinical history, current and past drug regimens (both antiretroviral and non-antiretroviral drugs). It is also possible to organize and maintain a patient database according to specific diseases, laboratory tests and/or medication treatments

Evaluation of association between hepatitis A and Helicobacter pylori infections and routes of transmission

WOS: 000238794300008PubMed ID: 16848113Previous research about coexistence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) infections and the factors that increase their prevalence has suggested that the route of transmission of HP infection includes oral-oral and water-foods as well as the fecal-oral route. The aim of this study was to evaluate the routes of transmission of HP by comparing the seroprevalences of HP and HAV in children. One hundred and two children aged 1-18 years living in rural and urban regions of izmir were included in this study. Anti-HP IgG and anti-HAV IgG antibodies were measured via enzyme immunoassay method. Seropositivities for HP and HAV were 56.8% and 51.9%, respectively. Seroprevalence for both infections increased with increasing age. However, a significant difference could not be detected between rural and urban areas. Sex did not have a significant effect. There was no infection in 22.1% of children, while 30.8% had both of the infections. 21.1% were positive only for HAV while 26% were positive only for HP. No significant correlation between seroprevalences of HP and HAV was detected. This study suggests the existence of various other routes of transmission of HP apart from the fecal-oral route

Effect of atorvastatin on serum matrix metalloproteinase activity in hypercholesterolemic adults

Congress of the European-Society-of-Cardiology -- AUG 30-SEP 03, 2003 -- VIENNA, AUSTRIAWOS: 000185638801280European Soc Cardio

Development of a database for tracking HIV positive/AIDS patients [HIV pozi·ti·f/aids hastalarinin tani ve i·zlemi· i·çi·n geli·şti·ri·len veri· tabani ortami]

PubMed ID: 17427558The collection of reliable data is the first step to assess the status of HIV/AIDS in a community. HIV recording systems are necessary for organizing and analyzing the patients' data. The aim of the study was to develop a database to be used to track HIV positive/AIDS patients. The database includes general demographic fields as well as specific fields such as health history, laboratory and other clinical history, current and past drug regimens (both antiretroviral and non-antiretroviral drugs). It is also possible to organize and maintain a patient database according to specific diseases, laboratory tests and/or medication treatments

Evaluation of immunoblot-based assay for detecting epstein-barr virus viral capsid antibodies [Epstein-barr vi·rus vi·ral kapsi·d anti·korlarinin saptanmasinda i·mmünoblot yöntemi·ni·n degerlendi·ri·lmesi·]

PubMed ID: 20549957Various attempts have been made to improve Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) serodiagnosis by developing more practical and objective methods than immunofluorescence-based assays. In the present study, the performance of immunoblot-based assays were evaluated by comparing the results obtained by the gold standard immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) test for the detection of IgM and IgG antibodies against EBV viral capsid antigen (anti-VCA). Serum samples of 277 patients admitted to Ege University Hospital for routine EBV diagnosis were included in the study. The age range of the patients was 3 months-89 years (mean 28 years) and 104 of them were females and 173 were males. All the samples were assayed by commercial immunoblot (Euroline IgM and IgG; Euroimmun, Germany) and IFA (EBV-CA IgG and IgM, Euroimmun, Germany) methods. Crosstabulation, chi-square test and phi (?) measures in SPSS 16.0 statistical package programme were used for data analysis. Of the 216 samples that were interpreted as positive with immunoblot-based IgM assay, only 34 (15.7%) were confirmed as positive with IFA, whereas 162 (75%) were negative, and 20 (9.3%) were equivocal (?= 0.167; low correlation). Of the 85 samples that were anti-VCA IgG positive with immunoblot assay, 82 (96.5%) were positive, 2 (2.3%) were negative and 1 (1.2%) were equivocal with IFA (?= 0.441; significant correlation). When the indeterminate results obtained by IFA test were excluded from the evaluation, the correlation between immunoblot VCA IgG and IFA IgG was 85.4% (88/103) and between immunoblot VCA IgM and I FA IgM was 27.3% (69/253). When the intensities of bands were evaluated for IgM testing, it was noted that as the intensity of the bands increased (1+ to 3+), IFA VCA IgM reactivity rates increased (from 9.9% to 29.5% for pi 9 band; from 24% to 85.7% for gp125 band). For immunoblot VCA IgM testing, 165 samples were found to be positive only for VCA pi 9 band. Of these samples, 135 (81.8%) were negative, 15 (9.1%) were positive and 15 (9.1%) were equivocal with IFA. It is observed that even though immunoblot assays with automated blotting and scanning systems can be a convenient alternative to immunofluorescence assay, the rate of false positivity obtained for VCA IgM was high (75%). It was concluded that in laboratories which apply immunoblotting as a primary screening test for EBV serodiagnosis, the positive VCA IgM results (particularly isolated p19 band positivity) and the presence of low intensity bands, should be confirmed by IFA testing

Comparison of immunofluorescence assay and multiplexed microparticle-based immunoassay for detecting Epstein-Barr virus viral capsid antigen antibodies

PubMed ID: 18215427A new multiplexed microparticle-based immunoassay was compared with the immunofluorescence assay that is used widely for detecting EBV-specific antibodies in immunocompetent patients. Serum samples of 162 patients submitted for routine EBV diagnosis were tested for viral capsid antigen IgM, viral capsid antigen IgG and serological profile interpretations with both systems. The result concordances were 94.2%, 93.6%, and 92.1%, respectively. Multiplexed microparticle-based immunoassay can be an alternative to immunofluorescence assay especially in laboratories receiving large numbers of samples. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved