BACKGROUND For detection of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANAs) and antibodies to extractable nuclear antigens (ENAs), samples frequently are screened with indirect immunofluorescence (IIF); further determination of anti-ENA antibodies is performed only when the result is positive. However, because anti-ENA reactivities are found in samples with low fluorescence intensities, we determined anti-ENA a...

There has been no previous clinical-immunological study of pemphigus in Spain. The aim of this study was to perform a retrospective analysis of pemphigus patients who had been followed for a period of 18 years in our centre. We characterized the autoantibody response, compared diagnostic assays and correlated the immunobiological data with phenotype and prognosis. Clinical, epidemiological and ...

The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) have both been used for testing of antibodies to desmogleins 1 and 3 (anti-Dsg1 and anti-Dsg3) and for the serologic diagnosis of pemphigus. IIF values and antibody concentrations and profile do not always correlate with a specific clinical phenotype and with the disease activity. The purpose of the present stud...

Monoclonal antibodies to Trichomonas vaginalis were prepared by immunizing mice with a cloned isolate of T. vaginalis. Eight antibodies reacted with the same four isolates or strains but did not react with the other T. vaginalis strains or isolates tested. All eight antibodies reacted uniformly with both the body and flagella of T. vaginalis in the immunofluorescence assay but were unreactive b...

We report the first isolation of Dengue virus 4 (DENV-4) in the state of São Paulo, from two patients - one living in São José do Rio Preto and the other one in Paulo de Faria, both cities located in the Northwest region of the state. The virus isolations were accomplished in the clone C6/36 Aedes albopictus cell line, followed by indirect immunofluorescence assays, performed with type-specific...

A nested PCR method was developed for the detection of Coxiella burnetii in human serum samples. Two pairs of oligonucleotide primers were designed to amplify a 438-bp fragment of the com1 gene encoding a 27-kDa outer membrane protein of C. burnetii. The primers amplified the predicted fragments of 21 various strains of C. burnetii but did not react with DNA samples from other microorganisms. T...

An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for detecting antibodies against cytomegalovirus induced immediate early antigens and early antigens was developed using purified nuclear antigens and was compared with the indirect immunofluorescence test. The tests were comparable in their ability to detect positive and negative sera, and antibody titres determined by both assays were similar. The ...