Search results for "Tuberculosis"
showing 10 items of 303 documents
Mycobacterial Infection: A Difficult and Late Diagnosis in Stem Cell Transplant Recipients
2004
The Infectious Diseases Working Party of the European Blood and Marrow Transplant Group conducted a survey to obtain information about the frequency, presentation, and treatment of mycobacterial infection (MBI) in stem cell transplant (SCT) recipients. Among 29 centers, MBI was diagnosed in 0.79% of 1513 allogeneic and 0.23% of 3012 autologous SCT recipients during 1994-1998 a median of 160 days after transplantation. The mean interval between first symptoms and diagnosis was 29 days and was still longer for patients with atypical MBI or recipients of corticosteroid therapy. The prevalence of MBI was highest among those who received matched unrelated or mismatched STCs from related donors. …
Fatal sepsis due to mycobacterium tuberculosis after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.
2001
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a serious, but rare infectious complication after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. We describe a case of fatal sepsis due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation for Philadelphia chromosome-positive ALL. The diagnosis was made after BAL. Although broad-spectrum antituberculous therapy was started immediately after diagnosis, blood cultures became positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The patient developed severe pyrexias and finally died of multi-organ failure. Rapid progression of mycobacterial infection should be considered in patients post BMT with unexplained fever, particularly in patients from endemic areas.
Reactivity of infiltrating T lymphocytes with microbial antigens in Crohn's disease.
1991
Intestinal T lymphocytes are normally unresponsive to microbial and recall antigens in vitro, whereas the same antigens induce strong immune responses in peripheral-blood-derived T cells. We obtained T lymphocytes from peripheral blood and from the non-inflamed and inflamed intestinal mucosa of 6 patients (3 male, 3 female; mean age 33 years) with Crohn's disease. The T cells were stimulated in vitro with a range of microbial antigens. Whereas T cells from normal mucosa were unresponsive, those from inflamed mucosa had a proliferative response comparable to that of the peripheral-blood-derived T cells. These findings suggest that physiologic unresponsiveness to luminal antigens is abrogated…
Monitoring changes in anti-tuberculosis treatment: associated factors determined at the time of diagnosis
2013
OBJECTIVES: To determine predictive factors for changes in standard anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy at the time of diagnosis. METHODS: A prospective study was performed among tuberculosis (TB) patients treated at specialised centres during 2008-2009. Treatment outcome was monitored per standard guidelines. Treatment was considered successful if the patient was cured or completed treatment. Factors associated with treatment modification were analysed at the bivariate and multivariate levels using logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 427 patients were included in the study. The initial standard treatment regimen was retained for 249 patients (58.3%), extended to 9 months for 36 (8.4%) and …
Knowledge about tuberculosis among undergraduate health care students in 15 Italian universities: a cross-sectional study
2014
Background: The Italian Study Group on Hospital Hygiene of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health conducted a multicentre survey aiming to evaluate undergraduate health care students’ knowledge of tuberculosis and tuberculosis control measures in Italy. Methods: In October 2012–June 2013, a sample of medical and nursing students from 15 Italian universities were enrolled on a voluntary basis and asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire investigating both general knowledge of tuberculosis (aetiology, clinical presentation, outcome, screening methods) and personal experiences and practices related to tuberculosis prevention. Data were analysed through multiv…
Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in Sicily, Italy: what has changed after a decade?
2014
Background We aimed to investigate the molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) isolates in the province of Palermo, Sicily, Italy, by characterizing 183 isolates identified in the years 2004-2012. A comparison with 104 MTBC strains identified in the same geographic area in the years 1994-2000 was also carried out. Methods One hundred eighty-three MTBC isolates identified in Palermo, Italy, in the years 2004-2012 were analyzed by spoligotyping and the 24 mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit (MIRU)-variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) method typing. Susceptibility testing to streptomycin, isoniazid, rifampin and ethambutol was also performed. Furthermore, the…
Intracellular Cytokine Staining and Flow Cytometry: Considerations for Application in Clinical Trials of Novel Tuberculosis Vaccines.
2015
Intracellular cytokine staining combined with flow cytometry is one of a number of assays designed to assess T-cell immune responses. It has the specific advantage of enabling the simultaneous assessment of multiple phenotypic, differentiation and functional parameters pertaining to responding T-cells, most notably, the expression of multiple effector cytokines. These attributes make the technique particularly suitable for the assessment of T-cell immune responses induced by novel tuberculosis vaccines in clinical trials. However, depending upon the particular nature of a given vaccine and trial setting, there are approaches that may be taken at different stages of the assay that are more s…
PD-1, PD-L1 and PD-L2 Gene Expression on T-Cells and Natural Killer Cells Declines in Conjunction with a Reduction in PD-1 Protein during the Intensi…
2015
Background The PD-1 axis is a cell intrinsic immunoregulatory pathway that mediates T cell exhaustion in chronic infection particularly in some viral infections. We hypothesized that PD-1, PD-L1 and PD-L2 would be highly expressed in untreated tuberculosis patients compared to controls due to their chronic infection and would decrease with successful TB treatment. Materials and Methods Untreated tuberculosis patients (n = 26) were recruited at diagnosis and followed up during treatment. Household contacts (n = 24) were recruited to establish baseline differences. Blood gene expression ex vivo was investigated using qRT-PCR. Flow cytometry was performed to establish protein expression patter…
Granzyme A as a potential biomarker of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and disease
2015
Cytotoxic molecules such as granulysin, perforin and granzymes produced by cytolytic T cells directly contribute to immune defense against tuberculosis (TB). In search for novel TB biomarkers, we have evaluated the levels of granzyme A in plasma obtained from QuantiFERON-TB Gold In tube (QFT-IT) assays from patients with active TB disease and subjects with latent TB infection (LTBI).Granzyme A serum levels in TB patients were significantly lower than values found in LTBI subjects even after subtraction of the unstimulated levels from the antigen-stimulated responses. The receiver operator characteristics (ROC) curve analysis comparing TB patients and LTBI groups, showed that at a cut-off va…
Cerebral abscesses imaging: A practical approach
2020
Abstract: Brain abscesses (BAs) are focal infections of the central nervous system (CNS) that start as a localised area of weakening of the brain parenchyma (cerebritis) and develops into a collection of pus surrounded by a capsule. Pyogenic (bacterial) BAs represent the majority of all BAs; in some cases, the diagnostic and therapeutic management can be challenging. Imaging has a primary role in differentiating BAs from other lesions. Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) is essential for the identification of the lesion, its localisation and its morphological features. However, cMRI does not allow to reliably differentiate BAs from other intracranial mass lesions such as necrotic…