Glycyrrhizin therapy for viral infections

Glycyrrhizin (GL) was reported as the most active in inhibiting replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus. Therapeutic effect of GL for liver dysfunction associated with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in immunocompetent individuals was evaluated. Liver dysfunction in 4 cases improved and CMV disappeared from urinary samples after administration of GL intravenously by the age of 12 months. GL treatment also should be applied for the patients with SARS. Key words: Glycyrrhizin, SARS, cytomegalovirus African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.2(10) 2003: 392-39

Prevalence of Bartonella infection among patients with fever

Bartonella henselae has been associated with an increasing spectrum of clinical syndromes including cat scratch disease. The prevalence of Bartonella infection among patients with unexplained fever in San Francisco was much greater than has previously been documented. However, out of 29 Japanese children with fever of unknown origin, only one had serum IgG antibody to B. henselae. Although general prevalences of serum antibodies to some infectious agents in healthy adults are higher than those of healthy children, the prevalence of B. henselae infections in Japanese population is not so high as expected. Key words: Bartonella henselae, cat scratch disease, fever of unknown origin. African Journal of Biotechnology Vol.2(10) 2003: 390-39

Current problems of perinatal Chlamydia trachomatis infections

Chlamydia trachomatis has been recognized as a pathogen of trachoma, nongonococcal urethritis, salpingitis, endocervicitis, pelvic inflammatory disease, inclusion conjunctivitis of neonates, follicular conjunctivitis of adults, infantile pneumonia and associated conditions. Chlamydial infections during pregnancy may also cause a variety of perinatal complications. Different antigenic strains of C. trachomatis from endocervical, nasopharyngeal and conjunctival origins have been associated with different clinical conditions. Control programs emphasizing early diagnosis, targeted screening, and effective treatment will lead to an eventual decline in the incidence of perinatal chlamydial infection. This review focuses on current problems of perinatal C. trachomatis infections in the aspects of microbiological and immunological pathogenesis

Bartonella henselae and Coxiella burnetii Infection and the Kawasaki Disease

It was reported that Bartonella henselae , B. quintana and Coxiella burnetii was not strongly associated with coronary artery disease but on the basis of geometric mean titer, C. burnetii infection might have a modest association with coronary artery disease. Serum antibodies to B. henselae from 14 patients with acute phase of Kawasaki disease were determined by the indirect fluorescence antibody assay. Serum antibodies to C. burnetii were also tried to detect. However, no positive results were obtained. I also examined 10 children and 10 pregnant women who had serum IgG antibody to B. henselae or to C. burnetii. No one showed abnormal findings of coronary artery. @JASE

Chlamydia trachomatis serovars of endemic trachoma had been predominantly existed in Japan?

In contrast to urogenital chlamydial infection, trachoma is a household disease that has disappeared in Japan as many parts of world because of improved living conditions and hygiene. However, chlamydial inclusion conjunctivitis is still not a rare disease in the outpatient clinics of general Japanese ophthalmologists. The serovars that we identified from Japanese infants and pregnant women were similar to those reported in other studies from non-trachoma-endemic areas and were thought to be mainly urogenital tract-origin. Once Japan was thought to be belong to an endemic area of trachoma as other Asian countries. Chlamydia trachomatis serovars of trachoma-endemic area had been really existed and predominantly associated with trachoma in Japan? @JASE

Adoptive immunotherapy for cytomegalovirus infection

We reported a case with interstitial pneumonia associated with cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in whom clinical improvement was observed after the treatment with primary adoptive immunotherapy. Although adoptive transfer of CMV-specific T cells offers the potential for reconstitution of viral immunity after allegoric transplantation, the logistics of producing virus-specific T-cell clones has limited the application of therapies. @JASE

Chlamydia trachomatis infection in early neonatal period

BACKGROUND: The clinical characteristics of Chlamydia trachomatis respiratory tract infections in Japanese neonates were investigated. METHODS: Clinical, laboratory and microbiological characteristics of five infants with pneumonia due to C. trachomatis in early neonatal period were analyzed. RESULTS: Only C. trachomatis was identified in 4 infants. Both C. trachomatis and cytomegalovirus was identified in one. Wheezing, tachypnea and cyanosis were common in infants. Mothers of five infants had negative chlamydial EIAs at 20 weeks of gestation. CONCLUSIONS: We identified five cases of C. trachomatis respiratory tract infections in early neonatal period with the possibility of intrauterine infection. Targeted screening, early diagnosis, and effective treatment of perinatal and neonatal chlamydial infections seems to be necessar

Chronological changes of incidence and prognosis of children with asymptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection in Sapporo, Japan

BACKGROUND: Chronological changes of the incidence of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and the longitudinal prognosis in children with asymptomatic congenital infection were investigated. METHODS: Congenital CMV infection, as demonstrated by isolation of the virus within the first week of life, was diagnosed in infants born in Sapporo, Japan, during the 26-year period between 1977 and 2002. RESULTS: Congenital infection was diagnosed in 37 (0.31%) of 11,938 infants. Thirty-two infants were (86.5%) asymptomatic and 5 (13.5%) were symptomatic at birth. CONCLUSIONS: Although a decrease in the total incidence of congenital CMV infection has been seen in recent years, screening of congenital infection at birth seems to be necessary to detect late-onset neurodevelopmental sequelae

RT-PCR法によるヒトサイトメガロウイルス前初期遺伝子mRNAの検出

We have established a method for detection of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) immediate early gene (IE)-specific mRNA by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Using the IE-1 specific primer fragments designed for RT-PCR, we have amplified a 232 base-pair fragment which represents IE-1 mRNA transcribed from the IE-1 gene of HCMV AD169 strain. No DNA cross reactivities to other human herpes virus DNAs or human embryonic lung cell (MRC-5 line) DNA were observed. The RT-PCR assay indicated HCMV IE-1-specific mRNA in HCMV-infected MRC-5 cells and in peripheral blood specimens from one of 3 patients examined. The results indicate that RT-PCR will be readily applicable to rapid detection of HCMV mRNA and may be useful for diagnosis of active primary or recurrent HCMV infections

Rapid detection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 group M by a reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系A rapid one-step reverse transcription-loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay targeting the pol-integrase gene was developed to detect human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) group M. This HIV-1 RT-LAMP assay is simple and rapid, and amplification can be completed within 35 min under isothermal conditions at 60 °C. The 100% detection limit of HIV-1 RT-LAMP was determined using a standard strain (WHO HIV-1 [97/656]) in octuplicate and found to be 120 copies/ml. The RT-LAMP assay was evaluated for use for clinical diagnosis using plasma samples collected from 57 HIV-1-infected and 40 uninfected individuals in Cameroon, where highly divergent HIV-1 strains are prevalent. Of the 57 samples from infected individuals, 56 harbored group-M HIV-1 strains, such as subtypes A, B, G, F2, and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) _01, _02, _09, _11, _13; all were RT-LAMP positive. One sample harboring group-O HIV-1 and the 40 HIV-1-uninfected samples were RT-LAMP negative. These findings indicate that HIV-1 RT-LAMP can detect HIV-1 group-M RNA from plasma samples rapidly and with high sensitivity and specificity. These data also suggest that this RT-LAMP assay can be useful for confirming HIV diagnosis, particularly in resource-limited settings. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved