Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The dot enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (Dot-ELISA) is a highly versatile solid-phase immunoassay for antibody or antigen detection. The assay uses minute amounts of reagent dotted onto solid surfaces such as nitrocellulose and other paper membranes which avidly bind proteins. After incubation with antigen-specific antibody and enzyme-conjugated anti-antibody, the addition of a precipitable, chromogenic substrate causes the formation of a colored dot on the solid phase which is visually read. The Dot-ELISA has been used extensively in the detection of human and veterinary protozoan and metazoan parasitic diseases, including amebiasis, babesiosis, fascioliasis, cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis, cysticercosis, echinococcosis, malaria, schistosomiasis, toxocariasis, toxoplasmosis, trichinosis, trypanosomiasis and even ixodid tick infestation. The technique is rapid, easy to perform and interpret, reagent conservative, cost effective and field portable. In addition, the Dot-ELISA may be configured to detect antibodies or parasite antigen in either microtiter plates for large-batch testing or with dipsticks for small numbers of determinations. A slight modification of the Dot-ELISA procedure allows the determination of infection rates of vectors such as ticks and sandflies with parasites.
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PMID:Recent applications of the Dot-ELISA in immunoparasitology. 305 66

Rheumatoid factors (RFs) occur with higher frequency and in higher titres in multibacillary forms of leprosy and several parasitic diseases than in healthy controls. The selection of controls is essential in studies of this kind. They should be individuals without signs of the disease under study living under similar socioeconomic conditions as the patients in the endemic country. In three studies where this matter was considered, RFs in lepromatous leprosy and Chagas' disease reacted more strongly with rabbit than human IgG, a feature generally considered to be quite restricted to rheumatoid arthritis. RFs interfere in various test systems, particularly in inducing false positive reactions for specific IgM antibodies in parasitic and other infectious diseases. Model experiments in rats, in vitro culture studies, and observations in humans indicate that RFs may have a protective role in trypanosome infections, malaria and schistosomiasis respectively.
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PMID:Rheumatoid factors in leprosy and parasitic diseases. 307 Jul 28

Heterophile antibodies to sheep red blood cells (SRBC), rabbit red blood cells (RRBC), horse red blood cells (HRBC), murine (rat) red blood cells (MRBC) were investigated in a total of 416 serum samples from two rural areas of Zambia where major parasitic diseases are endemic. Distribution of antibody titers to RRBC were significantly different between the two study areas, whereas titers to SRBC were not significantly different. Sheep RBC's did not reveal a uniform consistent difference between the two communities with respect to schistosomiasis and malaria. Rabbit erythrocytes showed significant differences (P less than 0.05) between parasitologically positive and negative samples for schistosomiasis and malaria, respectively. No significant difference was observed between sexes, although females generally have a slightly higher titer for both SRBC and RRBC than males. No significant agglutinins were detected to HRBC and BRBC. Agglutinins to MRBC were generally too high to be of any differential value. It is suggested that sheep and rabbit erythrocytes might be useful probes for evidence of exposure to parasites and assessment of humoral immunologic status, albeit nonspecific. Further, it is inferred that the incidence of infectious mononucleosis in this region is rather low. A controlled investigation into the distribution of E-B viruses is suggested to explain absence of I-M-like agglutinins in a region climatically conductive to existence of arborviruses in general, and the E-B virus group in particular.
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PMID:Profiles of heterophile antibody to various mammalian erythrocytes in rural populations of Zambia. 310 88

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect antibodies to Encephalitozoon cuniculi in man, using spores derived from tissue culture as antigen. Negligible cross-reactions were found with other microsporidia of vertebrate or of invertebrate origin and there was no cross-reaction with Toxoplasma gondii, using ELISA, immunoperoxidase or immunofluorescence staining. A high prevalence of antibodies to E. cuniculi was found in patients suffering from schistosomiasis, malaria and neurological and psychiatric disorders, but not in healthy individuals.
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PMID:An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detection of antibodies to Encephalitozoon cuniculi and its use in determination of infections in man. 310 30

The morbidity of schistosomiasis mansoni was assessed in Makundju (population 547; prevalence 96%, mean egg load 791 epg) and Massimelo (pop. 363; prev. 19%, mean egg load 39 epg), 2 similar villages in the forest zone of Maniema, Zaire. The prevalences of other parasites including malaria (holoendemic) were comparable. "Intermittent diarrhoea" (mostly bloody) was a complaint of 55% and 3% of the populations, respectively, "intermittent abdominal pain" of 63% and 25%, and "fatigue" of 33% and 19%. Enlargement of the left liver lobe was present in 45% and 9% of the populations, right lobe hepatomegaly in 32% and 3%, splenomegaly in 29% and 9%. Hepatomegaly and splenomegaly in Makundju were often very impressive, and most frequent in the 6- to 18-year-old group. Anaemia (haematocrit less than or equal to 35%) was present in 30% and 9% of males and 36% and 21% of females. Mean length and weight were lower in Makundju for boys aged 11 to 18 years. Ergometric results (Astrand cyclometer, male adults only) were comparably low in both villages (mean VO2max. 19.3 and 18.9). Analysis of the data according to egg load within the Makundju community revealed a significant relationship only in the following cases: higher frequencies of diarrhoea, abdominal pain and fatigue in those excreting more than 200 epg compared with those excreting fewer; left lobe splenomegaly gradually increased with egg load in children under 18; in people over 40 it occurred at a higher frequency in those excreting more than 2000 epg than in those excreting fewer.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:The morbidity of schistosomiasis mansoni in Maniema (Zaire). 311 2

Sera from a total of 268 patients with protozoan, helminth, bacterial (leprosy and tuberculosis) infections or appropriate controls, were assayed for anti-tubulin antibodies in an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), using purified tubulin as antigen. Levels of serum anti-tubulin antibody were significantly elevated in 67% of patients with visceral leishmaniasis, in 60% of patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis, in 89% of patients with onchocerciasis, in 100% of patients with schistosomiasis, and in 94% of patients with leprosy. Little or no increase in anti-tubulin antibody levels was seen in sera from patients with malaria (Plasmodium vivax) or tuberculosis.
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PMID:Antibodies to tubulin in patients with parasitic infections. 311 42

Early experiments in mice suggested that tumour necrosis factor (TNF) might be cytotoxic to asexual blood-stage malaria parasites. This was based on the striking activity of tumour necrosis serum (TNS) on the parasite both in vitro and in vivo, and the inability to separate by physical means the parasite-killing and tumour-killing components. However, recombinant TNF does not have this cytotoxic effect in vitro, while its antiparasitic activity in vivo, though significant, is not as strong as that of an equivalent amount of TNS. Thus it appears that TNS contains another cytotoxic molecule and that TNF itself may act indirectly in vivo, perhaps by activating an effector cell. An example of this has been found in murine schistosomiasis, where macrophage-derived TNF is able to activate eosinophils to attack the infecting worms. One mechanism of schistosomule damage is by eosinophil cationic proteins, and these have also been found to be cytotoxic to blood-stage malaria. There may therefore be a pathway of TNF activity common to both parasites. In a similar way, the crisis-forming factor (CFF) found in the serum of certain immune Sudanese adults is clearly distinct from TNF, since CFF-containing sera do not kill TNF-susceptible tumour cells and rTNF does not kill Plasmodium falciparum in vitro. This confirms that there are other cytotoxic molecules, still to be identified, with a role in immunity to malaria and perhaps other parasites. TNF is also active against intracellular Trypanosoma cruzi and against some viruses but in both cases this appears to be an interferon-like mediatory effect and not direct cytotoxicity. It is not yet clear whether these antiparasitic activities are part of the biological role of TNF.
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PMID:Antiparasitic effects of tumour necrosis factor in vivo and in vitro. 313 Oct 74

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to quantify soluble interleukin 2 receptor (IL-2R) in the serum of patients with helminthic and protozoal infections. The results demonstrated that levels of IL-2R were normal in patients with helminthic infections limited to the intestinal tract (ascariasis, trichuriasis), but significantly elevated in patients with systemic or long-lasting infections (strongyloidiasis, schistosomiasis, fascioliasis, opisthorchiasis). In patients infected with Schistosoma mansoni levels of IL-2R were higher in those with the hepatosplenic than in those with the intestinal form of the disease. Patients with malaria also showed increased serum levels of IL-2R, irrespective whether the infection was caused by Plasmodium falciparum or P. vivax. No difference was observed between patients with acute or history of malaria. The highest levels of IL-2R were observed in patients with visceral leishmaniasis. Interestingly, in these patients the concentration of IL-2R correlated to specific antibody titre. The results are discussed in the context of preferential activation of T lymphocytes, B lymphocytes and/or macrophages during the course of the different parasitic infections investigated.
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PMID:Interleukin 2 receptor in patients with localized and systemic parasitic diseases. 313 58

The Yemen Arab Republic has health-care problems similar to other developing countries yet lacks the abundant oil reserves of its Arabian peninsula neighbors to address these problems. An ambitious 5 year health plan developed in 1977 has been impeded by a lack of material and human resources. The infant mortality rate remains one of the highest in the world, schistosomiasis drains the energy of the people, and tuberculosis and malaria remain endemic. Progress is, however, being made in health-care educational programs within Sanaa University and the Health Manpower Institutes to develop the resources of the Yemeni people to meet the health-care needs of their country.
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PMID:Health care in the Yemen Arab Republic. 322 23

Ethiopia is a country of 45 million people in northeast Africa. With a stagnant, agriculture-based economy and a per capita gross national product of $110 in 1984, it is one of the world's poorest nations. 70% of the children are mildly to severely malnourished, and 25.7% of children born alive die before the age of 5. Life expectancy is 41 years. The population is growing at the rate of 2.9%/year, but only 2% of the people use birth control. After the 1974 revolution, the socialist government nationalized land and created 20,000 peasant associations and kebeles (urban dwellers' associations), which are the units of local government. The government has set ambitious goals for development in all sectors, including health, but famine, near famine, forced resettlement programs, and civil war have prevented any real progress from being made. The government's approach to health care is based on an emphasis on primary health care and expansion of rural health services, but the Ministry of Health is allocated only 3.5% of the national budget. Ethiopia has 3 medical schools -- at Addis Ababa, Gondar, and the Jimma Institute of Health Sciences. Physicians are government employees but also engage in private practice. A major problem is that a large proportion of medical graduates emigrate. Ethiopia has 87 hospitals with 11,296 beds, which comes to 1 bed per 3734 people. There are 1949 health stations and 141 health centers, but many have no physician, and attrition among health workers is high due to lack of ministerial support. Health care is often dispensed legally or illegally by pharmacists. Overall, there is 1 physician for 57,876 people, but in the southwest and west central Ethiopia 1 physician serves between 200,000 and 300,000 people. In rural areas, where 90% of the population lives, 85% live at least 3 days by foot from a rural health unit. Immunization of 1-year olds against tuberculosis, diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus, poliomyelitis, and measles is 11, 6, 6, and 12% respectively. Infectious diseases dominate the medical scene in Ethiopia. In 1984, tuberculosis accounted for 11.2% of hospital admissions and 12.2% of deaths. The leading cause of childhood mortality in 1984 was diarrhea (45%). Malaria, trypanosomiasis, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and meningococcal meningitis are endemic. Intestinal parasitism is rampant, and the nationwide prevalence of leprosy is 3/1000. Venereal diseases were the 9th most common cause of hospital outpatient visits in 1984, but AIDS is rare. The leading noninfectious diseases are rheumatic and syphilitic heart disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hepatoma, and elephantiasis. Ethiopia has the highest number of cases of nonfilarial elephantiasis -- an estimated 350,000 cases -- in the world. Aside from a large influx of money, the most necessary changes to improve the health system are lowering the salaries of doctors and nurses, reorienting physician training toward primary health care, increasing the quality of existing health services, more efficient management, and better coordination between the Ministry of Health and the voluntary organizations.
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PMID:Health and medical care in Ethiopia. 271 Jan 85


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