Between 2009-2010, a group of 259 patients suspected of contracting Lyme disease were examined in the Provincial Sanitary-Epidemiological Station in Olsztyn for the presence of IgM and IgG against specific Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) genospecies antigens by immunoblot. A total of 27.4% and 29.0% of the blood serum samples showed positive and uncertain results for IgM and IgG antibodi...

The resistance of rats or mice to glutamate-induced toxicity depends on their ability to spontaneously manifest a T cell-dependent response to the insult. Survival of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) exposed to glutamate in BALB/c SCID mice (a strain relatively resistant to glutamate toxicity) was significantly worse than in the wild type. In the susceptible C57BL/6J mouse strain, however, signifi...

The third member of the family of T cell leukemia viruses (HTLV III) has been proposed as the primary etiologic agent of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). A high risk of AIDS has been reported among patients with hemophilia, particularly those with factor VIII deficiency who receive commercial clotting factor concentrates. In a prevalence survey conducted between September 1982 and...

The post-colonial hierarchy is a critical dynamic of global coexistence. Power is associated with those sovereignties characterized by light-skinned populations. Those characterized by dark skin are denigrated and assumed less qualified to negotiate global issues as equals. Although political objectives are expected to stimulate conflict, skin color is directly correlated with the present world...

Chlamydia trachomatis strains are obligate intracellular human pathogens that share near genomic synteny but have distinct infection and disease organotropisms. The genetic basis for differences in the pathogen-host relationship among chlamydial strains is linked to a variable region of chlamydial genomes, termed the plasticity zone (PZ). Two groups of PZ-encoded proteins, the membrane attack c...

Diagnosis of active Lyme borreliosis (LB) remains a challenge in clinically ambiguous, serologically indeterminant, and polymerase chain reaction-negative patients. Lymphocyte transformation tests (LTTs) have been applied to detect specific cellular immune reactivity, but their clinical application has been severely hampered by the poorly defined Borrelia antigens and nonstandardized LTT format...

OBJECTIVE The reactivity of gynecologic cancer proteins with monoclonal antibody (MAb) directed against the human immunodeficiency virus I (HIV-I) was tested. METHODS Cytoplasmic and nuclear proteins, extracted from a broad range of gynecologic cancers obtained during standard surgical procedures, were tested in Western blotting with MAb 5023 developed against the amino acid sequences 308-322...

Diagnosis of active Lyme borreliosis (LB) remains a challenge in clinically ambiguous, serologically indeterminant, and polymerase chain reaction-negative patients. Lymphocyte transformation tests (LTTs) have been applied to detect specific cellular immune reactivity, but their clinical application has been severely hampered by the poorly defined Borrelia antigens and nonstandardized LTT format...

An engineered Fas-associated death domain protein (FADD), 2DEDplusE-made previously by fusing the tandem DEDs of FADD to the E protein of lambda phage-greatly enhances apoptosis-inducing activity in adherent cells in vitro. To investigate the mechanism of apoptosis-inducing activity of this engineered FADD, we compared the apoptosis-inducing activity of various other engineered FADDs. The tande...