Intrathecal synthesis of anti-mycobacterial antibodies in patients with tuberculous meningitis. An immunoblotting study.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples from eight patients with bacteriologically proven (6) or clinically suspected (2) tuberculous meningitis were tested for the presence of anti-mycobacterial IgG antibodies by an affinity-mediated immunoblot technique. This technique is based on agarose gel isoelectric focusing of paired CSF and serum samples diluted to the same IgG concentration, and transfer of the specific IgG antibodies onto mycobacterial antigen-loaded nitrocellulose sheets. An intrathecal synthesis of anti-mycobacterial oligoclonal IgG antibodies, often superimposed on diffuse polyclonal production was shown in all patients but not in patients with tension headache or other neurological disorders. Similar results were obtained when a purified mycobacterial antigen, A60, was used for coating the nitrocellulose sheets in place of a whole mycobacterial homogenate, indicating that A60 was a major immunogen. The number of anti-mycobacterial oligoclonal IgG bands increased with time, and persisted for years even in clinically cured patients. Some IgG bands had no detectable anti-mycobacterial activity, at least with the antigens preparations used in this study. The demonstration of such anti-mycobacterial IgG bands in the CSF could be a useful adjunct for the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis, especially in the case of negative cultures

High-rate continuous biodegradation of concentrated chlorinated aliphatics by a durable enrichment of methanogenic origin under carrier-dependent conditions.

The simultaneous biodegradation of toxic compounds in mixtures is a major current concern. To bioremediate a toxic mixture, we designed a strategy combining an ad-sorbent carrier with an ecological and nutritional system which allowed work close to heavily polluted conditions in nature. Starting from a methanogenic community, we developed a microbial consortium acclimated to a mixture of about 30 chlorinated aliphatics in a fixed-film stationary-bed bioreactor. Prior to the establishment of a durable period of dechlorination, an interval of progressive dechlorination of the toxic mixture was observed during which the excess of the toxic compounds was stored on the carrier. The latter, consisting of activated carbon in a polyurethane foam, allowed us to work at concentrations far above the solubility of the toxic compounds (apparent concentrations of about 10 g/L). The complete disappearance of hexachloroethane as well as its lower homologues, penta-, tetra-, and trichloroethane, present in the toxic mixture, was observed. Additionally, octachlorocyclopentene, carbon tetrachloride, trichloro-ethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and hexachloro-1,3-butadiene also completely disappeared. For the four latter compounds, from mass balances in the bioreactor, degradation rates around 10 mumol/L per day were determined with total dechlorination. The enrichment culture thus developed exhibited high degradation performances similar to those reported in the literature for pure or enriched anaerobic microbial cultures in contact with a single toxic compound. The results demonstrate the possibility of concurrent high-rate degradation of several highly chlorinated toxic compounds, under conditions approximating field situations.(c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc