To study the occurrence of immunocompetent cells directly responsible for antibody production, cells from yolk sac, embryonic liver, bursa of Fabricius, bone marrow, spleen, or thymus were injected together with SRBC and Brucella abortus into 4-day old cyclophosphamide-treated chicks. A second stimulation was given 4 days later, and samples taken 4 days thereafter were used for antibody titrati...

BACKGROUND It has been known that plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a neoplasm of immunocompromised patients occurring in soft tissue of oral cavity or in the vicinity whereas bone is an unlikely site to harbor PBL. However, its occurrence is increasingly being reported in immunocompetent individuals in either osseous or extra-oral sites. To our best knowledge, F-18 FDG PET/CT findings of PBL inv...

The genus Bartonella includes important human-specific and zoonotic pathogens which cause intraerythrocytic bacteremia in their mammalian reservoir host(s). It is accepted that cellular immunity plays a decisive role in the host's defense against most intracellular bacteria. Bartonella sp. infection in the immunocompetent host typically leads to immunity against homologous challenge. The basis ...

Probiotics are formulations of live microbial cells that administered orally to contribute intestinal balance. Bacillus clausii is one such aerobic, spore-forming bacterium able survive in the acidic environment stomach and used as a probiotic. In past few years, probiotic use has increased greater extent. However, there growing global evidence probiotics patients with organ failure, immunocomp...

BACKGROUND Infection with gastrointestinal cytomegalovirus in an immunocompetent host is a rather rare occurrence in the literature. There are a few reports of gastrointestinal infection in the immunocompetent who are then subsequently given a new diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease. It is speculated that the initial cytomegalovirus colitis infection triggers the onset of inflammatory bowel...

To investigate antibody maturation and serum levels of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA after primary CMV infection, we studied 51 immunocompetent and 27 kidney-transplant patients. Compared with the immunocompetent patients, the transplant patients had significantly more-prolonged and -variable antibody maturation, clearly longer durations of viremia, and higher levels of CMV DNA; however, antibody m...

I read a case report about Tuberculosis and fungal co-infection in a previously healthy patient published in Colomb Med (Cali) by Fontalvo et al.1, (http://colombiamedica.univalle.edu.co/index.php/ comedica/article/view/2271) and I would like to address some related comments. Frequently clinicians report adult cases of patients with opportunistic infections as disseminated tuberculosis and/or f...

Cytomegalovirus infections are widely distributed with a seroprevalence of up to 100%. The majority of the cases take a silent course or deal with unspecific clinical symptoms. Complications in immunocompetent patients are rare but may affect the liver and lead up to an acute organ failure. In this case report, we describe a 35-year-old immunocompetent female with an acute cytomegalovirus infec...

BACKGROUND Pneumocystis spp. are opportunistic pathogens that cause pneumonia in immunocompromised humans and animals. Pneumocystis colonization has also been detected in immunocompetent hosts and may exacerbate other pulmonary diseases. Surfactant protein A (SP-A) is an innate host defense molecule and plays a role in the host response to Pneumocystis. METHODS To analyze the role of SP-A in ...