Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.6.1.1 (aspartate aminotransferase)
 21,665 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In areas where there is a low prevalence of schistosomiasis mansoni, faecal examination is a relatively insensitive method of detection and infected people may also be missed because most show only mild morbidity. In such settings, serology may be a more useful diagnostic tool than microscopy. In the present study, the clinical and biochemical characteristics of individuals who were stool-positive for Schistosoma mansoni eggs were compared with those of individuals, from the same low-prevalence area of Brazil, who were stool-negative but seropositive for the parasite. Overall, 269 subjects were checked both for schistosome eggs in their faeces (using Kato-Katz smears and Lutz sedimentation) and for anti-S. mansoni IgG in their sera (using an ELISA). Although 128 (48%) of these subjects were found seropositive, only 26 (10%) were found to be egg excretors and two of the egg excretors were seronegative. Compared with the seropositive egg-negatives, the egg excretors had significantly higher frequencies of fatigue, melaena, jaundice and swelling of the abdomen. The egg excretors also had higher frequencies of hepatomegaly (20% v. 16%) and splenomegaly (4% v. 1%). In both groups of subjects, mean concentrations of serum proteins and haemoglobin and mean leucocyte counts were in the normal range whereas most blood concentrations of alanine aminotransferase and many of those of aspartate aminotransferase were slightly elevated. Although the egg excretors tended to have low-intensity infections, it seems possible that the seropositive nonexcretors had even milder infections that could not be detected by faecal examination. The high frequency of cure observed when the egg excretors were given praziquantel at 40 mg/kg (94%) is probably another indication that most had light infections when they were treated.
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PMID:Schistosoma mansoni-related morbidity in a low-prevalence area of Brazil: a comparison between egg excretors and seropositive non-excretors. 1787 76

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is one of the most important endemic mycoses in Latin America; it's usually diagnosed by observation and/or isolation of the etiologic agent, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, as well as by a variety of immunological methods, such as complement fixation and immunodiffusion. Although these approaches are useful, historically their sensitivity and specificity have often been compromised by the use of complex mixtures of undefined antigens. The use of combinations of purified, well-characterized antigens appears preferable and may yield good results. In the present study combinations of the previously described 27-kDa recombinant antigen (rPb27) and a recombinant 40-kDa-molecular-mass antigen (rPb40) from this fungus, that was identified by Goes et al. (2005) through the AST strategy as a homolog of Neurospora crassa calcineurin B, were used in an indirect enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for diagnosis and follow-up of patients with PCM. The complete coding cDNA of rPb40 and rPb27 were cloned into a pET-21a and a pET-DEST 42 plasmid, respectively, expressed in E. coli with a his-tag and purified by affinity chromatography. Among 109 PCM serum samples analyzed, a homogeneous IgG response to these proteins was observed. 62 serum samples from patients with other diseases, 18 from patients with other mycosis and 23 from healthy individuals were also studied. Detection of anti-rPb27 and anti-rPb40 antibodies in sera of patients with PCM by ELISA using a combination of the two purified proteins showed a sensitivity of 96% with a specificity of 100% in relation to control normal human sera and to sera from patients with other systemic mycosis and 93.5% to sera from patients with diverse infections. The use of this two proteins combination provided an excellent immunodiagnosis assay with great values of sensitivity and specificity, even in relation to sera from patients with other mycosis, making possible the standardization of a new methodology to diagnose this important mycosis, with a good confiability and reprodutibility.
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PMID:Combined use of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis recombinant rPb27 and rPb40 antigens in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for immunodiagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis. 2135 62

A prospective study was performed in 200 paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) patients, 51 presenting the acute/subacute form (AF) and 149 the chronic form (CF), submitted to the evaluation of the hepatobiliary system at admission and during the follow-up treatment with cotrimoxazole (CMX) or itraconazole (ITC). This study aimed to better evaluate the involvement of the hepatobiliary system in PCM and the effect of these antifungal compounds on this system. Serum levels of direct bilirubin (DB), total bilirubin (TB), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) were evaluated. At admission, all the variables showed changes with elevated values ranging from 6.2% for TB to 32.6% for GGT. After treatment, the incidence of elevated serum levels ranged from 3.6% for DB to 27.5% for ALT. The course of the alterations during the treatment showed regression to normal values in CMX-treated patients and persistence in ITC-treated patients but without the need to discontinue the therapy. Our findings contribute to the knowledge of the hepatobiliary involvement by Paracoccidioides sp. and to a safe follow-up of PCM patients under treatment.
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PMID:Evaluation of the hepatobiliary system in patients with paracoccidioidomycosis treated with cotrimoxazole or itraconazole. 2942 Aug 19