Three commercial latex kits, IBL, MYCO-Immune, and IMMY, for the detection of cryptococcal antigen were compared in regard to sensitivity, specificity, and height of antigen titers. A total of 218 cerebrospinal fluid and 79 serum specimens from 239 patients were included. Twenty-two patients had culture-proven disseminated cryptococcosis. Both the IBL and MYCO-Immune kits had sensitivities of 1...

The routine pretransfusion red blood cell antibody detection test (PADT), performed at the authors' institution, consists of a threephase, saline-antiglobulin technique (immediate spin, 30-minute incubation at 37 °C, IgG indirect antihuman globulin test |IAT|), and each phase is examined for hemolysis and agglutination. To determine if it would be safe to omit reading the 37 °C phase of the PAD...

Foci of recent cell death were identified in 10 consecutive cases of Huntington's disease in the caudate nucleus and putamen. Indirect immunohistochemical staining procedures were performed on these areas and controls using fluorescein conjugated anti-globulin and peroxidase-conjugated anti-globulin. Positive results were found when human antiserum to Cytomegalovirus was used. The possibility o...

A convenient method for direct photometric determination of total globulin in serum has been developed using a one-tube, one.reagent system. The analysis is based on a variation of the Hopkins-Cole reaction, in which glyoxylic acid condenses with the tryptophan residues present in globulin to produce a purple color. In the presence of copper and under the conditions of the analysis, color inten...

IT has been suggested that anti-basement membrane (BM) antibody is responsible for the development of the pulmonary and the renal lesions in Goodpasture's syndrome (Sturgill and Westervelt, 1965; Beirne, et al, 1968; Willoughby and Dixon, 1970). It is a controversial issue whether this anti-BM antibody is formed by the release of glomerular or alveolar BM antigen. Experimental models resembling...

Baby hamster kidney or HeLa cells form tumors in 100% of athymic nude mice. When such cells are persistently infected (PI) with RNA viruses, such as mumps or measles virus, the tumor cells either fail to grow or form circumscribed benign nodules. Neither the parental nor the virus PI tumor cells form invasive or metastatic lesions in nude mice. Previous studies have indicated a correlation betw...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, autoimmune disorder that affects nearly all organs and tissues. As knowledge about the mechanism of SLE has increased, some immunosuppressive agents have become routinely used in clinical care, and infections have become one of the direct causes of mortality in SLE patients. To identify the risk factors indicative of infection in SLE patients, a ...