background: it seems that the incidence of pertussis-like illnesses is considerably increasing despite the wide coverage of immunization with the whole cell pertussis vaccine. we aimed to investigate the occurrence of pertussis in vaccinated children by measuring anti-pertussis antibodies. methods: in this cross-sectional study, blood samples were taken from vaccinated children aged 2, 4, 6, 12...

BACKGROUND Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with a defective intestinal barrier and enhanced adaptive immune responses against commensal microbiota. Immune responses against food antigens in IBD patients remain poorly defined. METHODS IgG and IgA specific for food and microfloral antigens (wheat and milk extracts; purified ovalbumin; Escherichia coli and Bacteroides fragilis lys...

Celiac disease is a chronic illness of the small bowel caused by gliadin intolerance in genetically predisposed subjects. The aim of this study was to investigate serum levels of IgA and IgG antigliadin antibodies, IgA antiendomysial antibodies, and IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies in 169 patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases, i.e. chronic thyroiditis and Graves' disease. Antiend...

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is an important pathogen of neonatal acquired pneumonia in newborns. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of M. pneumoniae infection is critical because timely antibiotic therapy can reduce drug overuse and prevent the development of bacterial resistance. Anti-M. pneumoniae immunoglobulin M (IgM) is an indicator of early infection that can persist for several month...

OBJECTIVE Increasing the accuracy of the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) by placing emphasis on objective findings such as the presence of anti-Ro and anti-La autoantibodies and abnormal salivary gland tissue (SGT) histology is a current issue. In order to obtain optimal disease sensitivity and specificity of SGT findings, histological and immunohistological SGT examinations were compared....

Recently, anti-deamidated gliadin antibodies were proposed for the serological diagnosis of celiac disease. We evaluate the specificity of different anti-deamidated gliadin antibodies ELISA in comparison with conventional anti-native gliadin kits. Serum samples from 46 non celiac patients were analyzed by five different quantitative ELISA for anti-native gliadin, anti-deamidated gliadin and ant...

OBJECTIVES High prevalence rates of celiac disease in patients with Down syndrome have been reported in several countries. However, in Brazil there is no data regarding this association. In this study we report the prevalence of celiac disease in Down syndrome children and adolescents from southern Brazil. METHODS Seventy-one patients (32 female and 39 male, 2-18 years) from Curitiba, Brazil,...

Anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease is characterized by crescentic glomerulonephritis with immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies to the non-collagenous (NC1) domain of α3(IV) collagen presenting along the GBM. The patient clinically manifests with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) with pulmonary hemorrhage (Goodpasture...

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were developed separately for the three main parts of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecule, namely, lipid A, core, and O polysaccharide. Anti-lipid A, anticore, and anti-O polysaccharide antibodies were measured in serum samples from 12 patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) in a longitudinal study covering the period before P. aeruginosa i...