Background Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) is characterized by reduced serum levels of immunoglobulins (Ig) and its treatment requires regular infusion of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Eventually CVID female patients will reach reproductive age and it is known that maternofetal transplacental transport of antibodies is important to protect the child in the first months of life. The...

Thirty fetuses with cardiac arrhythmias were referred for ultrasonography. This included cross sectional and M mode echocardiography and pulsed Doppler analysis of the fetal heart. Three types of arrhythmias were observed: ectopic beats, tachyarrhythmias, and bradycardia. Ectopic beats were associated with cardiac structural abnormalities in two cases, resulting in fetal death in one. Tachycard...

Cattle infected with Neospora caninum readily experience transplacental parasite transmission, presumably after maternal parasitemia, leading to abortion or birth of congenitally infected calves. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are important mediators of protective immunity against Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular apicomplexan protozoan closely related to N. caninum. In this study, N. caninum-...

Brucellosis is a zoonosis caused by ingestion of unpasteurized milk or other dairy products from infected animals or through close contact with their secretions. Human-to-human transmission, which is rare, has been reported in association with blood transfusion, bone marrow transplantation, transplacental or perinatal exposure, and breastfeeding. In the neonatal period, congenital brucellosis, ...