Search results for "immunocompetence"
showing 10 items of 61 documents
Early neutralizing and glycoprotein B (gB)-specific antibody responses to human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in immunocompetent individuals with distinct c…
2000
Abstract Background: Antibodies with functional anti-Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) activity are likely to be involved in preventing virus dissemination and thus may contribute to minimize the clinical manifestations of infection. Objectives: To investigate the role of humoral immunity in modulating the clinical expression of primary Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection in immunocompetent persons. Study design: Neutralizing (NA) and glycoprotein B (gB)-specific antibodies were quantitated in acute-phase and late-convalescence phase sera from 19 individuals who developed either HCMV mononucleosis (12) or oligosymptomatic hepatitis (seven). Results: The levels of NA in sera drawn early after …
Infective endocarditis: review of 36 cases
2009
In a retrospective study of cases of infective endocarditis (IE) observed in adult patients, the data of patients hospitalized for definite IE in the Cardiosurgery Unit of ARNAS-Civico in Palermo (Italy) from March 2003 to September 2006 were analysed. All cases were classified according to the modified Duke criteria. In all, 36 immunocompetent patients with "definite" IE were included (20 males and 16 females with a median age of 54 years). The aortic valve (23/36, 64%) was the most commonly involved, followed by the mitral (19/36, 52.7%) and tricuspid valve (4/36, 11%). In 10 patients (27.7%), a double localization was observed. Blood culture yielded a positive result in 15 cases. Staphyl…
[Cytomegalovirus infection in immunocompetent patients. Clinical and immunological considerations].
2012
Cytomegalovirus primary infection is considered dangerous for some kinds of patients: immunocompromised (HIV-infected and transplanted patients), newborns with congenital infection, and immunocompetent patients in critical condition. CMV infection is usually asymptomatic or only mildly symptomatic in immunocompetent hosts. We collected all cases of acute CMV infection that came to our attention during the period November 2009 - May 2011 to analyze their clinical features. Immunoenzymatic methods (ELISA) were used for the detection of specific IgM and IgG antibodies in every case. We observed 73 cases of acute CMV infection. The male-female ratio was 1.5/1. The average age was 36.4. All the …
Case report: acute portal vein thrombosis associated with acute cytomegalovirus infection in an immunocompetent adult
2017
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is usually asymptomatic and self-limiting in healthy individuals, but significant complications can develop in immunosuppressed patients. Venous or arterial thromboembolic phenomena are uncommon yet very serious complications of CMV infection. Most published reports describe immunosuppressed patients, but thrombotic events in CMV-infected immunocompetent individuals may also occur. We describe the case of an immunocompetent young man with acute CMV hepatitis that was complicated with portal vein thrombosis (PVT). We also review the literature regarding the association between PVT and CMV in immunocompetent patients. Thromboembolism is an underestimated but si…
Sexual advertisement and immune function in an arachnid species (Lycosidae)
2004
A simple version of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesizes that through condition-dependence, the size of the sexual trait may be positively related to immune function at the population level. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between sexual advertisement and immune function in a natural population of male wolf spiders, Hygrolycosa rubrofasciata (Araneae: Lycosidae). Males of H. rubrofasciata have a costly and condition-dependent acoustic signal, courtship drumming. In the mating season, males drum against dry leaves while wandering around the habitat searching for receptive females. Males increase their mating success by increasing their drumming rate and mobility.…
Frequency-Analysis of Precursors of Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes in Radiation Chimeras: Enumeration of Antigenspecific CTL-P Restricted to Thymic MHC- and…
1984
The mechanisms controlling the acquisition of T cell restriction specificity and immunocompetence are, despite of numerous investigations, not well understood. From studies of the CTL-immune responsiveness in thymus- and bone marrow-grafted chimeric mice, it became apparent, that it is the thymus which is crucial not only for the maturation or T cells, but also for the specificity repertoire of the T cells (1,2). From these data it was suggested, that during intra-thymic maturation both mutational events and positive selection mechanisms influence the repertoire such that only T cells restricted to thymic epithelial cell MHC determinants mature and will be exported to the peripheral lymphoi…
Comparative evaluation of molecular methods for the quantitative measure of torquetenovirus (TTV) viremia, the new surrogate marker of immune compete…
2019
Background Torquetenovirus (TTV) viremia is emerging as a promising tool to assess functional immune competence, to predict posttransplant immune-related complications, and eventually to customize immunosuppression. Methods In this study, 327 blood samples were tested using two real-time PCR (rtPCR) assays both targeted to the untranslated region of the TTV genome. The first assay was an in-house rtPCR developed by our group, the second one was the recently marketed TTV R-GENE assay. Results In the validation study, the TTV R-GENE showed good performances in precision and reproducibility, and sensitivity as low as 12 TTV DNA copies/mL, like previously reported for the in-house rtPCR. The Bl…
Midgut microbiota and host immunocompetence underlie Bacillus thuringiensis killing mechanism
2016
Bacillus thuringiensis is a widely used bacterial entomopathogen producing insecticidal toxins, some of which are expressed in insect-resistant transgenic crops. Surprisingly, the killing mechanism of B. thuringiensis remains controversial. In particular, the importance of the septicemia induced by the host midgut microbiota is still debated as a result of the lack of experimental evidence obtained without drastic manipulation of the midgut and its content. Here this key issue is addressed by RNAi-mediated silencing of an immune gene in a lepidopteran host Spodoptera littoralis, leaving the midgut microbiota unaltered. The resulting cellular immunosuppression was characterized by a reduced …
T-cell-derived helper factor allows in vivo induction of cytotoxic T cells in nu/nu mice
1980
T-cell immunocompetence and diversity are thought to be generated in the thymus1,2. This view is based on the findings that (1) T-cell ontogeny is thymus dependent3,4, (2) the major histocompatibility restrictions of T-cell interactions are phenotypically related to the H–2 type of the thymus5–9, and (3) the phenotypic manifestation of H–2-linked immune responsiveness parallels the restriction elements selected in thymus10–12. However, it is unclear whether pre-thymic cells programmed to develop into T cells do already express a receptor diversity, also whether pre-thymic cells have the potential to react against self-antigens, and whether the mechanism of self-tolerance is initiated in the…