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Query: UMLS:C0042961 (volvulus)
 4,305 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A standardised method for serodiagnosis of lymphatic filariasis W. bancrofti (var. pacifica) was performed. The authors used indirect fluorescent assay with papain treated microfilariae as source of antigen. Very high levels of antibodies were obtained in 96% microfilaremic patients. The geometric mean titers were 22.7 for healthy subjects and 605.5 for the filariasis patients. Cross reactivity was studied with two subcutaneous and one lymphatic filariasis. The geometric mean titers were 211.1 for Onchocerca volvulus, 105.6 for Loa-loa and 254 for Brugia malayi patients. No significant reactivity was observed with some other parasites.
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PMID:[Use of microfilaria treated with papain in the serodiagnosis of lymphatic filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti (Var. pacifica)]. 390 47

Cystatins of parasitic nematodes are well-described pathogenicity factors which contribute to downregulation of T-cell proliferation of their hosts and induce anti-inflammatory cytokine responses. We compared the immunomodulatory effects of two cystatins of the filarial nematodes Onchocerca volvulus and Acanthocheilonema viteae with two homologous proteins of the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Like filarial cystatins, the C. elegans cystatins (rCysele1 and rCysele2) possessed domains relevant for inhibition of papain-like proteases and were biologically active inhibitors of human cathepsins B, L, and S. However, the inhibition of cathepsin B by C. elegans cystatin was much stronger. C. elegans cystatins lacked a domain involved in inhibition of legumain-like proteases that was present in O. volvulus cystatin. Filarial cystatins suppressed the proliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and murine spleen cells, while the C. elegans cystatins had this effect to a much lesser extent. Whereas filarial cystatins markedly increased the production of interleukin (IL)-10, C. elegans cystatins increased the production of IL-12 and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) by human PBMC. The cystatins of both the filariae and C. elegans induced an upregulation of inducible nitric oxide by IFN-gamma-stimulated murine macrophages. These data suggest that filarial cystatins but not the C. elegans cystatins downregulate proliferative responses of host cells due to characteristics which might reflect an adaptation of filariae to their parasitic life style.
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PMID:Parasite-specific immunomodulatory functions of filarial cystatin. 1270 12

Cysteine proteinases from larvae of the common bean weevil, Acanthoscelides obtectus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), were isolated by ion exchange affinity chromatography on a CM-Cellulose column and used to select mutant cystatins from a library made with the filamentous M13 phage display system. The library contained variant cystatins derived from the nematode Onchocerca volvulus cystatin through mutagenesis of loop 1, which contains the QVVAG motif that is involved in binding to proteinases. After three rounds of selection, the activity of variant cystatins against papain and cysteine proteinases from A. obtectus was assayed by ELISA. Two different variant cystatins (presenting amino acids DVVSA and NTSSA at positions 65-69) bound to A. obtectus cysteine proteinases more tightly than to papain. In contrast, the wild type had similar affinity for A. obtectus proteinases and for papain. These two selected variants cystatins have greater specificity towards A. obtectus cysteine proteinases than the original sequence and could represent good candidate genes for the production of transgenic plants resistant to this insect pest.
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PMID:Use of phage display to select novel cystatins specific for Acanthoscelides obtectus cysteine proteinases. 1449 99