Total and High Molecular Weight Adiponectin and Hepatocellular Carcinoma with HCV Infection

Adiponectin is shown to be inversely associated with development and progression of various cancers. We evaluated whether adiponectin level was associated with the prevalence and histological grade of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and liver fibrosis in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.A case-control study was conducted on 97 HCC patients (cases) and 97 patients (controls) matched for sex, Child-Pugh grade and platelet count in patients with HCV infection. The serum total and high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and examined in their association with the prevalence of HCC. In addition, the relationship between these adiponectin levels and body mass index (BMI), progression of liver fibrosis, and histological grade of HCC was also evaluated. Liver fibrosis was assessed using the aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI).There were no significant differences in the serum total and HMW adiponectin levels between cases and controls. Moreover, there were no inverse associations between serum total and HMW adiponectin levels and BMI in both cases and controls. On the other hand, serum total and HMW adiponectin levels are positively correlated with APRI in both cases (r = 0.491, P<0.001 and r = 0.485, P<0.001, respectively) and controls (r = 0.482, P<0.001 and r = 0.476, P<0.001, respectively). Interestingly, lower serum total (OR 11.76, 95% CI: 2.97–46.66 [P<0.001]) and HMW (OR 10.24, CI: 2.80–37.40 [P<0.001] adiponectin levels were independent risk factors of worse histological grade of HCC.Our results suggested that serum total and HMW adiponectin levels were predictors of liver fibrosis, but not prevalence of HCC in patients with HCV infection. Moreover, low these adiponectin levels were significantly associated with worse histological grades

Schistosomiasis mansoni: immunodiagnosis aspects and search for an immunological marker related to therapeutic efficacy

The recent findings on immunodiagnosis of schistosomiasis mansoni have shown that purified Schistosoma mansoni antigens do not provide maximum positivity. Therefore, the authors suggest the use of semi-purified antigens for diagnostic purposes. So far, no serological marker for cured patients as shown by negative stool examination was found. However, a tendency of IgG antibody titre decrease was observed, when egg antigen was used

Evaluation of the enzyme-linked-immuno-electro-diffusion-assay (ELIEDA) for the diagnosis of Schistosoma mansoni infection with low worm burden

An immunoprecipitation technique, ELIEDA (enzyme-linked-immuno-electro-diffusion assay), was evaluated for the diagnosis of Schistosoma mansoni infection with low worm burden. One hundred of serum samples from patients excreting less than 600 eggs per gram of feces (epg), with unrelated diseases and clinically healthy subjects were studied. In patients with egg counts higher than 200 epg, the sensitivities of IgM and IgG ELIEDA were 1.000 and 0.923, respectively, not differing from other Serologic techniques, such as indirect hemaglutination (IHAT), immunofluorescence (IFT) tests and immuno-electrodiffusion assay (IEDA). However in patients with low egg counts (< 100 epg), the IgG ELIEDA provided better results (0.821) than IgM ELIEDA (0.679), showing sensitivity that did not differ from that of IgG IFT (0.929), but lower than that of IgM IFT (0.964). However, its sensivity was higher than that found with IHAT (0.607) and IEDA (0.536). The specificity of IgG ELIEDA was comparable to that of other techniques. The data indicate that IgG ELIEDA might be useful for the diagnosis of slight S. mansoni infections, and the cellulose acetate membrane strips can be stored for further retrospective studies.A técnica de imunoprecipitação ELIEDA (enzyme-linked-immuno-electro-diffusion-assay) foi avaliada para fins diagnósticos da esquistossomose mansoni em pacientes com baixa carga parasitária. Amostras de soros de 50 pacientes com exame de fezes positivo para S. mansoni (carga parasitária < 600 ovos por grama de fezes = opg) e 50 não esquistossomóticos (30 com outras afecções e 20 normais) foram estudadas. Em pacientes com carga parasitária acima de 200 opg, a sensibilidade da técnica de ELIEDA, tanto para anticorpos IgG como IgM, respectivamente 1,000 e 0,923, não diferiu da observada para outras reações sorológicas, como a de hemaglutinação (RHA), imunofluorescênca (RIF) e imunoeletrodifusão (IED). Entretanto, naqueles com baixa carga (< 100 opg), a ELIEDA-IgG mostrou resultados mais satisfatórios (0,821) que a ELIEDA-IgM (0,679), apresentando sensibilidade que não diferiu à da RIF-IgG (0,929); apesar de inferior à da RIF-IgM (0,964), a sensibilidade da ELIEDA-IgG foi superior à da RHA (0,607) e à da IED (0,536). Quanto à especificidade, esta foi comparável à dos demais testes estudados. Os dados indicam que a ELIEDA-IgG pode ser útil para diagnóstico da esquistossomose, mesmo em pacientes com pequena carga parasitária, com a vantagem de permitir estudos retrospectivos através da análise posterior das fitas de acetato de celulose que podem ser armazenadas e arquivadas